Temper from PTSD - need advice!

Jeremy, Hi bro I don't know how much this will help you or not but I know living in the civilian world is hard enough without adding to it , I've talked to some of my Marine Corps. brother's returning home to the same problems their friends and family thing they are being mean but they just don't realize that this is the way we were trained to respond to things it will help you to connect other military members and talk to them about everything , it takes time to adjust and it will get better with time.

Lately my anger rom P.T.S.D. has gotten worse. I'm told, I'm ( was a ) Corpsman, you can't tare care of your self, it's patients ( brothers, and sisters), for. A part of me died when I could not be active anymore. I hear, just e-mail me.

Sgt Eppy here, and Sgt Richard Hanner's room mate... I have 3 kids all under 14 and I have PTSD. I have gone to the Vet Center for counseling, it is not a fast and easy fix Jeremy, I am still not fixed, but when I feel the flare up of anger I walk off, and I go and allow myself to feel it.... all of our emotions are tied up into our physical selves at the same time, our hormones pump to fuel the actions that we FEEL. I hope you can find some peace brother, your kid will be ok, and your wife is supporting you.... good lucj

SSG Jeremy Sienbenaller, I too have suffered fits of anger for no good reason, after my children were grown and I retired from the Army, I went to work for a very good company, they had a psychiatrist on retainer. He gave some very good advice for people like you and I. Unfortunately for my children it was too late. He said there are things that we will allow and things that we will not allow our children to do and also some things that they can do in some places but not other places. Our anger runs from a 1 -10 level, 1 is when we are relaxed with iced tea and watching the clouds go by with a loved one, where ten is the level we have committed assault or murder. The key is to deal with your children at the low levels of anger and not to let it get in the higher area. Kids will whine and argue to get what they want but it is better to discipline them for arguing or whining while you are at a level 3 or 4 than to try to deal with the issue when you are at 5 or above. If you would like to talk respond and I will give you my cell number to call me. You and your family deserve to be happy together no matter what the rest of the world is doing. God Bless and Take care

Go get some help please, trust me, it is worth it.

Here is the article that I was speaking of yesterday.

https://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/23381.aspx

SSG Jeremy Siebenaller raising kids in todays society is difficult beyond a doubt. I have a 16 son that I am teaching to drive (wait until you hit that milestone). Every parent has made mistakes, anyone that says they haven't is a liar.

You have been given a lot of great advice on here from people that have experienced what you are going through. I suffer from PTSD from a non combat issue and I can tell you that the person (psychologist) that helped me work through mine was not associated with the VA. Also it was not a quick fix so take it easy on yourself. See if there are support groups near you as well, if not start one.

You are in my thoughts.

SSG Jeremy Siebenaller First and foremost, you have to learn to control it. Yes, I know that may be massively oversimplifying it, but that's the deal. How to do that is a whole other set of problems, but your post tells me that you know it has to be done. Maybe VA can help with some counseling, or maybe even private health insurance. Hell, find yourself a local VFW and just talk to other vets....whatever works for you. I know I've had some temper flares that I have felt terrible about. Thankfully, never enough to lay a hand on my daughter (beyond some well deserved spankings when she was younger). She also happens to be the center of my universe, just like I know that your son is yours. What has worked for me is the simplest thing in the world: I learned to keep my mouth shut and walk away for a couple of minutes, then come back and deal with the issue....sending her to a corner (when she was younger) or her room until I had a minute to get hold of myself...things like that. As the saying goes, cooler heads prevail. Different things work for different people. You just have to find what works for you. One more thing: If you twist off at some point, never, ever think that it's bad to apologize and explain yourself. That shows you are a man who can step up and admit when he's wrong....but also don't let your son off the hook if he was wrong too. He needs to learn to be that same kind of man.

I kind of rambled on a bit here...I hope I managed to say something useful.

MY BROTHER EVERYDAY I FIGHT THAT MONSTER, I DONT KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU THAT WILL HELP YOU CONTROL IT, I KNOW WITH ME IM DOING ALOT BETTER THAN WHEN I WAS STILL IN THE MILITARY RIGHT AFTER I GOT BACK FROM IRAQ, BUT I LASH OUT SOMETIMES.
FOR ME I WORK WITH LIFE SENTENCE CONVICTED FELONS I CAN TO A CERTAIN DEGREE VENT I'VE GONE OFF ON THE WHOLE DORM BEFORE I KNOW ITS SUICIDE 96 TO 1 IM IN CHARGE OF 4 DORMS SO IF IM OUTSIDE AND VENT THAT IS CLOSE TO 4 HUNDRED CONVICTS AND ONLY ABOUT 5 OF US OFFICERS...MY ADVICE WOULD BE TO THINK IT THRU WHEN YOU GET TO THAT BOILING POINT TRY TO FOCUS ANDNOT LET IT RUN YOU I KNOW THAT IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE BUT I DONT HAVE ROAD RAGE ANYMORE I TOOK CARE OF IT BEFORE I GOT KILLED...I LIKE YOU SURVIVED COMBAT JUST TO COME HOME AND DIE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD BECAUSE OF SOME IDIOT THAT DOESNT THINK WHILE HE DRIVES I HAD TO REALLY COME TO TERMS WITH THAT...I HOPE YOU GET HELP FROM SOMEBODY OR MAYBE YOU JUST NEED TO RELAX AND GO FISHING WITH YOUR SON MORE OFTEN AND NOT BE IN STRESSFUL ENVIORNMENTS AS MUCH BUT ALWAYS TRY TO DO THE RIGHT THING MY BROTHER OUR LOVED ONES DEPEND ON IT...

There is a professor at the university where I work that did some research regarding people in the military. I will post the article tomorrow if I still have it @ work.

His research should that those of us that in the military were more aggressive than those who had not. Which makes sense to me because we joined a warrior culture. I think this becomes amplified if in a combat area & even more if part of combat action.

I was never in combat so you can either accept or not accept my words but I do agree with the theory that the military does make you more aggressive. It did for me at least.

I used to react much

SSG Jeremy Siebenaller, how are you making out? Things gotten better?