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About 7.8% of Americans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives--with women twice as likely as men to develop it. In the military, 30% of men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD. Sexual harassment/assault is another common cause within the military.
Should treatment for PTSD be more individualized to the specific causes? How can someone struggling get the appropriate support for his or her journey to heal?
Should treatment for PTSD be more individualized to the specific causes? How can someone struggling get the appropriate support for his or her journey to heal?
Posted in these groups: 
PTSD
Sexual Assault
PTSD Sexual Assault
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
Who else thinks the RallyPoint team does an awesome job at making these infographics for us? Hat tip Nick Petros, Meaghan Corson :)
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SFC Mark Merino
Agreed Sgt (Join to see) I'm sending it to my friend at Fort Wainwright for their PTSD clinic to see if they could use it.
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This was posted 6 days ago, and after lurking here for a few weeks and seeing how this forum worked I was hopeful that I could post an anonymous comment for my fellow leaders to respond to, but I can't create my own thread, so I'll piggy back off of this one.
I am a SSG in the US Army. I will hit 8 years this Friday, SEP 19th. I will have been a SSG for just shy of 2 years of that point. That's E6 in just over 6, but won't make 7 in 7. I am the recipient of two purple hearts as an E4 in the same tour. To be honest I was put in for a 3rd, but I was advised by my CSM that I should fight against a 3rd submission in the same tour because it could possibly eliminate me from the Army as a re-enlistment candidate for various reasons, and despite what others say, it was a good call.
After receiving my 2nd PH and my ARCOM (downgraded from ARCOM V, thanks COL), I was put into a "mandatory TBI study" for AD personnel for 1 year. This was before they had the whole TBI scanners in the helmets thing that I noticed on my latest deployment. These people called relentlessly until I answered about a 30 minute barrage of questions every 3 months for a year. They even followed me from duty station to duty station even when I reclassed.
I went from 11 series to 25 series (SIGNAL, not "commo"), and have had an insane time trying to re-align myself as part of the team. I work with individuals which in my opinion, have no heart. I took shrapnel to the face and neck, was knocked unconscious, recovered the hamburger that used to be a majority of my platoon, and still managed to walk the 3 miles back and lead a convoy back to KAF for the ceremony to load them up on a plane. Yet I am here now with a bunch of POGS (sorry for the term, but it's how I feel), who have never deployed, have been to some awesome duty stations for the past 15 years (hawaii, germany, maryland, back to germany etc,) and for some reason can't run. Working with females is also another HUGE change for me, which I won't go into for sake of the intent of this post. It is insanely disappointing. I joined to be a man, because I wasn't before this. I was doing some terribly stupid $H!@ as a late teen, and joined to save myself. I was taught by my NCOs that what I do in combat will define me. And what I did is mine, and mine alone. Yet here I am now with these people that almost disgust me to be associated with as "Soldiers".
The point of this post is to ask you, fellow leaders, how I can overcome or adapt to this new environment I work in. It is NOT a sob story or anything to try and gain any type of favoritism, I just literally am at my whits end when it comes to this new job.
I'm an E6 with 8 years in service, been an E6 for 2 of those 8. My average peer is at 15-18 years in service, and have pretty much set their minds on retirement and don't GAF (you figure it out). I have no friends at this newest duty station, and don't plan on having any based on what I've seen. I'm used to having at least ONE battle buddy I can call and vent to. I have none here. I work with people who on average have not deployed, at least half. They are all on no running profiles. I have 50% vision in my right eye and shrapnel still in my right shoulder. I can still run a 15 minute 2 mile or less. Not great, but it's what is in my heart that keeps me going at my full speed. I want to headbutt people who say they are "hurt" and have never deployed.
Obviously I have anger issues. I just have no idea who to talk to about it here, especially with no battle buddies. Nobody here is my peer. I don't want to take any type of "PTSD" counseling sessions because I'm in TRADOC. I can't even go to sick call without being around a bunch of <6 months in the Army privates, who apparently have PTSD from their Drill Sergeants who, trust me (I've been through the training), are NOTHING compared to what you and I went through. It's a softer Army now. I want to rage at everything that is going on here, but in addition to "leaders" that are guaranteed their retirements at this point, and soldiers who are "entitled" to everything coming in, as well as civilians that pretty much run this place, I might as well be nobody. I am not the triple war vet, double purple hearted 'grunt' who I want to be, used to be, am. I am just a poser in this new "generation" of army who is seriously floundering and drowning. I have no idea what to do.
I need some help, I really do. I want it, I just have nowhere to turn. 5 minutes with any of these civilian "experts" on anything will let you know they are full of crap and don't actually wan't to be doing what they are doing...
If anyone has any advice on ANYTHING I am griping about I would be very appreciative of it...I am losing my mind after only 8 years, and would really like to fulfill my 20...
Thank you in advance...
I am a SSG in the US Army. I will hit 8 years this Friday, SEP 19th. I will have been a SSG for just shy of 2 years of that point. That's E6 in just over 6, but won't make 7 in 7. I am the recipient of two purple hearts as an E4 in the same tour. To be honest I was put in for a 3rd, but I was advised by my CSM that I should fight against a 3rd submission in the same tour because it could possibly eliminate me from the Army as a re-enlistment candidate for various reasons, and despite what others say, it was a good call.
After receiving my 2nd PH and my ARCOM (downgraded from ARCOM V, thanks COL), I was put into a "mandatory TBI study" for AD personnel for 1 year. This was before they had the whole TBI scanners in the helmets thing that I noticed on my latest deployment. These people called relentlessly until I answered about a 30 minute barrage of questions every 3 months for a year. They even followed me from duty station to duty station even when I reclassed.
I went from 11 series to 25 series (SIGNAL, not "commo"), and have had an insane time trying to re-align myself as part of the team. I work with individuals which in my opinion, have no heart. I took shrapnel to the face and neck, was knocked unconscious, recovered the hamburger that used to be a majority of my platoon, and still managed to walk the 3 miles back and lead a convoy back to KAF for the ceremony to load them up on a plane. Yet I am here now with a bunch of POGS (sorry for the term, but it's how I feel), who have never deployed, have been to some awesome duty stations for the past 15 years (hawaii, germany, maryland, back to germany etc,) and for some reason can't run. Working with females is also another HUGE change for me, which I won't go into for sake of the intent of this post. It is insanely disappointing. I joined to be a man, because I wasn't before this. I was doing some terribly stupid $H!@ as a late teen, and joined to save myself. I was taught by my NCOs that what I do in combat will define me. And what I did is mine, and mine alone. Yet here I am now with these people that almost disgust me to be associated with as "Soldiers".
The point of this post is to ask you, fellow leaders, how I can overcome or adapt to this new environment I work in. It is NOT a sob story or anything to try and gain any type of favoritism, I just literally am at my whits end when it comes to this new job.
I'm an E6 with 8 years in service, been an E6 for 2 of those 8. My average peer is at 15-18 years in service, and have pretty much set their minds on retirement and don't GAF (you figure it out). I have no friends at this newest duty station, and don't plan on having any based on what I've seen. I'm used to having at least ONE battle buddy I can call and vent to. I have none here. I work with people who on average have not deployed, at least half. They are all on no running profiles. I have 50% vision in my right eye and shrapnel still in my right shoulder. I can still run a 15 minute 2 mile or less. Not great, but it's what is in my heart that keeps me going at my full speed. I want to headbutt people who say they are "hurt" and have never deployed.
Obviously I have anger issues. I just have no idea who to talk to about it here, especially with no battle buddies. Nobody here is my peer. I don't want to take any type of "PTSD" counseling sessions because I'm in TRADOC. I can't even go to sick call without being around a bunch of <6 months in the Army privates, who apparently have PTSD from their Drill Sergeants who, trust me (I've been through the training), are NOTHING compared to what you and I went through. It's a softer Army now. I want to rage at everything that is going on here, but in addition to "leaders" that are guaranteed their retirements at this point, and soldiers who are "entitled" to everything coming in, as well as civilians that pretty much run this place, I might as well be nobody. I am not the triple war vet, double purple hearted 'grunt' who I want to be, used to be, am. I am just a poser in this new "generation" of army who is seriously floundering and drowning. I have no idea what to do.
I need some help, I really do. I want it, I just have nowhere to turn. 5 minutes with any of these civilian "experts" on anything will let you know they are full of crap and don't actually wan't to be doing what they are doing...
If anyone has any advice on ANYTHING I am griping about I would be very appreciative of it...I am losing my mind after only 8 years, and would really like to fulfill my 20...
Thank you in advance...
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CPT Aaron Kletzing
SSG (Join to see) -- thank you from all of us for opening up like this; it takes courage. I am sending you a message here on RP with my cell phone number. Call me anytime you need to. Every member on RP is here for you in the same way, I suspect.
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CPT Aaron Kletzing
SSG (Join to see) -- do you have a spouse/children? Just trying to be sufficiently helpful. Another person to connect you with here in that sense would be LTC Jason Strickland. He helps run an awesome organization called Project Sanctuary.
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LTC Jason Strickland
SSG (Join to see), as CPT Aaron Kletzing mentioned, our organization, Project Sanctuary, is here for folks in your situation. Check out our website (http://www.projectsanctuary.us) for additional information. We offer most of our retreats just three hours from Fort Carson. Please contact me if we can help.
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SGT David Petree
I got this # [login to see] said press 1 got it from the VA in Birmingham . it is the veterans crisis line. the real hard part is getting words to come out of your mouth when they answer the phone. I have called it`s helping.
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PTSD isn't a sign of weakness mentally or physically. There are many excellent theories but the answer still alludes the professionals who have studied it for generations. It isn't natural to go to war. Every whistle and bell God programmed us with goes off inside as our biological defense mechanism to help keep us alive, just like it was designed to do. All that increased external stimulus and heightened "fight or flight" programming sometimes gets stuck in a loop in our heads. It kept us alive in combat, so maybe it is good? I think the body/mind connection gets a little confused. The thing that doesn't help are the constant deployments. If you make it back to a peaceful surrounding and have no issues that is FANTASTIC. The odds of not developing PTSD decrease with every subsequent deployment. Our mind gets confused. It was safe, then it was war! Then it was safe for a while.....then war! Some people are just left with their mind and body geared towards war. The severity of PTSD has a strong correlation with our ability to turn off these "switches" in peacetime. The question should not be "Why is PTSD so common." The question in my mind is "Why aren't more people affected with PTSD?"
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SSG William Patton
SFC Mark, PTSD is under reported to answer your question. It goes against our nature as males to show signs of weakness and thus, we internalize our emotions. I had PTSD for 20 years before I finally tried to deal with it. Ironically, it was not the VA, but a college psychology professor who helped me address it. I had to write a paper about the most significant experience I had as an adolescent. That was easy, Vietnam. Writing about it, and then having to read my paper in front of a group of students, most a lot younger than I was, was as terrifying as combat. But, I survived, and afterward, felt better. That opened the door for me to begin to feel my emotions instead of supress them. There are signs we show when we have PTSD, like risk taking behavior, drinking or illicit drugs, to make the pain go away, or to feel the rush of combat. I got a high school buddy, who I also saw in Vietnam to finally go for a PTSD screening and he was approved at 60% on his first try. I have a brother in law who flew on Spooky that has it and I am still trying to get him to admit it. He has all the signs, but is afraid it will make him look weak. We are often our own worst enemy when it comes to our health. That is why it is under reported.
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Col (Join to see)
The question is why don't the Services prepare warriors for combat properly and reintegrate them afterward. Why do the Services push the limits on Combat Trauma and write off the human cost to it as acceptable vice some multi-million dollar weapon system. The Army's own thorough research discovered in WWII that ~180 days was the combat exhaustion limit for nearly all personnel. So why was that "forgotten" and the standard Middle East conflict (OIF, OEF) tour became 365 days despite DoD's own well documented research? The answer lies within the military-industrial complex not a personnel system that is not combat smart.
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SSG William Patton
Col. Dave, I left Cam Rahn Bay on 30 June 70 and 48 hours later I was at my parents home in Louisiana. The culture shock of coming home was far worse than it was when I landed at Ben Hoa a year earlier. I did not have a clue what to expect in Vietnam and I went through Tigerland at Ft. Polk, where you got a good taste of what it was like, but nothing prepares you for the real deal. Coming home, 48 hours after experiencing incoming rounds, was as I said, more of a shock. I can recall diving under the picnic table when someone would light of a bottle rocket prior to Independence Day celebrations or jump when fire crackers would go off, but that was more understandable than trying to learn how to act as a civilian after three years in the military, the last in combat. I did not know I had PTSD at the time, but knew something was not right with me. I was anxious all the time and felt guilty for being home when I knew a couple of my buddies would never have that feeling. I stayed drunk for about a month, until I met my wife, and she helped me put the pieces back together. I consider myself blessed, compared to many who did not have a support system like I did. I did not see combat frequently, like some did, but we lived under the threat of rocket and mortar attacks every week and sometimes, everyday. It took many years to put that behind me, but even today, I still think about Vietnam and my buddies al them time. It never goes away. Sorry for rambling.
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SSG William Patton
Captain Gregory W., My nephew, are marine who served two tours, one in Irag and one in Afghanistan said he was in the field for most of the 24 months he was deployed. I spent 12 months on remote artilery fire support bases and and only saw base camp four times during that 12 months. Then infantry we supported before Vietnamesation would be in the bush for sometimes two weeks straight, then get three of four days in base camp before being sent out again. It is estimated 30% of Vietnam vets have PTSD and I think that is way under estimated.
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