'I'm Still Dealing With It': How Two Veterans Are Learning To Cope With PTSD

Army veteran Isiah James ‘loved’ being in the military. He says he enjoyed the kinship and camaraderie that the U.S. armed forces offered him.

But when the Army medically retired him at 27, “that’s when all the problems hit me,” he says.

“One day I was in the service and the next day — literally the next day — I was just a civilian out of my own,” he says.

Navy veteran Fidel GomezTorres had a similar experience. “I absolutely enjoyed my time deployed. I enjoyed my time in the Navy,” he says.

But once he was back in the hustle and bustle of New York City, his post-traumatic stress disorder start manifesting itself. He says he began to realize that he “carried a lot of anger” while trying to readjust to civilian life in the city.