The Holidays are here. For vets with PTSD, what are the holidays like for you?

As Dec 24th approaches I have so many mixed feelings. on the 24th I celebrate my son's birthday, a little ball of energy that has kept me focused since his birth 5 years ago. But I also mourn the loss of 3 friends killed on Dec 24th, 2003 near Samarrah. There are other things going on as well but those 2 things are the 2 that are on my mind the most. I will continue to remember the good those men did in Iraq, they were engineers building schools, putting smiles on the children of Iraq when they came to visit and bring them the things they needed. Their lives lost but still today I hope still remembered by those they helped. My son keeps me going, intrigued by my military pictures, my gear, and some of my better stories I share with him.

thanks for this post,

Merry Christmas to all, and remember those lost and those still deployed. God Bless.

I avoid crowds. Holidays don't bother me, they're just another work day or were when I could work. I hate slamming doors, cabinets and loud noises. I get nervous when I see a middle eastern person leave an item and then pull out a cell phone. I need to sit with my back up against the wall. I'm hypervigilant when it comes to people and smells. Smells trigger flashbacks. Biggest thing I can say to civilians is don't get aggressive towards me. If I'm shopping and I accidentally cut you off or vice versa bowing up to me is the wrong answer. My fight or flight response just defaults to fight now. People just need to be civil.

Man they suck. Santa hasn't brought me anything and that includes coal. Cheap bastard even takes the candy in my stockings. Whoever thought that whole "it's the thought" crap, hasn't been on the receiving end of seeing some fat man come down your chimney breaking half the bricks in the process, leaving some doggone socks, draws, and T-shirts. The socks are green, the drawers and t-shirts are tan, and he eats every damn thing in the kitchen as if I didn't want any of it. So I'll be glad when this season is over. I will be staying away from any and all fat "jolly" men who have the audacity to ask me while sitting on their laps what do it want? Did I mention the reindeer sh*t on the roof? Who do you think is gonna clean that mess up? I'm fat too, so I have to hire someone to do it and that's more money out of my pockets. So as a vet who suffers from PTSD Santa keep your fat a** off my roof this year. I'll leave the front door open so you can't break stuff, I'll leave you a few five day old Mickey D's double cheeseburgers (they don't spoil, and I have no idea why they're not a MRE staple), and a 40oz of Old English or a fifth of Fireball to hurry your butt up being you aren't dropping off anything different than last year. Hell you can even keep all the damn bills you saddle me with and take them back to the North Pole and have an elf pay em off. My New Years resolutions? I'm gonna do the same crap as last year so I can forecast the stupidity I'm gonna pull this summer in advance, and not break a single resolution. To the rest of y'all I hope Santa doesn't conduct breaching operations through your chimney, he doesn't conduct a personal taste test of all your food and liquor, and I hope you scare him off before he realizes the chocolate you gave him was actually Ex-lax and he gets the bubble guts.