need help with ptsd what can i do i got no one to talk

Not a vet sorry to say, but I offer moral support, what is on your mind?

>>32466923

I broke down at a party last night. Then my friend attacked me and I fucking almost nigger knifed him.


Whats the matter brother?

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>>32466923
Whats up bro?

>>32466969
>>32467012
didn't really react to the stuff that happened i was withdrawn for a while now i freak out over the smallest shit i ether become mute or shake a little or just feel like i am in danger

>>32466923

bumping for OP

>>32467085

How long have you been back? Are you still in?

>>32467085
Have you gone to the VA or gotten diagnosed by another doctor?

>>32467122
Dont you know that the VA hates soldiers?

ITT: pogs

>>32467171

Only pogs call others pogs dick-looker. I bet youre some gay marine that went on one MEU and now thinks hes the shit.

>>32467085
Welcome to civilian life. Im in nursing school. This hot teacher told me I was too military, I didnt know what to tell her cause she said she is from a military background. She said that I didnt like to look people in the eyes. I took care of a heroin baby so I didn't care, I held that kid for 5 hours for him to fall asleep.

>>32467192
Lmao u mad supply clerk? I'm sorry someone threw a rock at your convoy in Bahrain giving u the Pee Tee Esses :(

>>32467263

>confirmed for salty lance

Yeah lucky you youre perfect and nothing ever bothers you. Youre a shining beacon of manlyness. Youve never lost brothers both away and at home. Youve never had to wake up to realize youll never see someone ever again.

Im glad you were so lucky anon, I really am. I was a infantry medic for seven years and it hasnt gotten any easier for me. I dont wish this pain on any one.

>>32466923

Not a vet but I'm in EMS and my bud had it after a particularly nasty emergency, and while I don't know the exact routine, I'll just write what he had to do.

>Talk to others

You said you've got no one, so I'll stay out of the details.. If you're having any family members or other people you rarely meet, try to use these opportunities. If there's a counsel hotline or anything like that in your area, call it - it works wonders.

>Learn to supress sudden emotional outbursts

If you're having a flashback, get yourself a routine to adhere to and calm down - the old "Inhale, count, exhale, count" trick works here I've been told.

>See a psychiatrist and go through your trauma again

He will put his finger on the spots that hurt, no doubt, but if you let him record your reaction and listen to the recording on a daily basis. This was a tremendous help for my friend who slowly got out of it after a few months of constantly doing so, the intense reactions vanished and he talked about it like I d about drinking a beer or two soon enough.

Getting professional help of course always is an option if you feel you just can't deal with it otherwise. There is no shame in doing so, even for the manliest men sometimes it's too much.

Last but not least, thank you (and all the vets here) for your service and your sacrifice. Unironically.

>>32467416

Oh, and before I forget it, do it in that order.

If the reaction to being confronted with your trauma is too heavy, don't go for the shock therapy first and instead try working around the symptoms.

>>32467308
>medic

Confirmed pog lmao do you look like Andrew Garfield

>>32467451
Why do you allow yourself to continue living, water dog?

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Former Infantry. I've been out for four, coming up on five years now and over the past year I'm finally getting comfortable existing again. The first six months was the absolute worst. I could barely function. I tried to reconnect to the old civilian life, but that shit was just gone. I was just going through the motions, pretending to be civilian again. They'd try to help and offer to talk about it or something, and even if I know it was well intentioned and an honest attempt, there's just no way they could possibly understand.

Shit just wasn't there, and it was incredibly fucking frustrating and I'd just red-line on anger and it wouldn't hit that normal stopping point before you take action and it'd just sail straight into murderous rage. Then I'd catch myself seriously getting ready to literally kill one of my best friends with my bare hands in public over fucking nothing and that anger would rot into this sickening depression.

Spent another six months doing absolutely nothing. Barely even leaving the house. Wouldn't talk to people for weeks. Lots of waking up in a panic because I couldn't find my M4 or couldn't remember where I was. It took time. Lots of time. Picking up solitary hobbies to keep me distracted. Removed as much shit from my life as I possibly could. Total life reset. Probably a terrible fucking idea, and not an option for everyone, but it worked for me. Kinda. I was still far from normal, and I doubt I'll be completely "normal" again, but I was comfortable being me again. I could function around civilians again.

Bounced around a few intentionally dead-end 3rd shift jobs. The routine helps and the human interaction is minimal and with familiar faces and they'll appreciate someone with a work ethic. Two years of that was enough to go back to school and working on a degree for an actual life.

Just don't rush it. This shit is normal. You've got another sixty years of life, burning one or two to get your head straight isn't that big of a deal.

>>32467616
This is what you gotta do

>>32466923
Fucking pussy kill yourself


By having too much fun!

>>32467759

edgy

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I will still never understand ptsd. I was in Fallujah and did my fair of shit, but PTSD is never something I would say I have.

Yeah I am a little jumpy, yeah I am a little paranoid, and yeah I often think about the shit I was put through....But I never had any breakdowns or outbursts like a lot of people seem to have. Am I just exceptionally good at handling death and violence? Or are most people just pussies?

>>32467788
PTSD does not manifest in everyone

>>32466923

What did you get PTSD from? Did you serve in WW2 or Korea?

>>32467788
>Or are most people just pussies?

They're mostly just pussies, since the combat they've seen was low intensity goat herders firing pot shots and setting IEDs. That's not an actual war.


You guys in Fallujah actually came closest to fighting a real war, but your opponent was still a bunch of sand niggers with no proper artillery, organization or much sustained fighting capability.

>>32467788

Everyone's got a different reaction to seeing shit of varying seriousness. Consider yourself gifted that all you have are just some bad feels now and then instead of actual outbreaks, not everyone takes it as well as you.

>>32467788
I think its a little bit of both. I know someone that tried to get a ptsd rating for never leaving the fob. Ive never seen myself as either a huge pussy or the manliest of men, but sometimes I just get sideblined with the feels when people say certain things. Im far from where I was 3 years ago when I came home.

I participated in some morally dubious things so theres that.

>>32467852
says the civie to the vet....

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>>32467788
Different people handle it differently. For me it was never the violence. It was being keyed up all the time. That state of being always on, and ready to from sleep to 100% in a three count. I was really fucking good at that. Waking up at the slightest noise. Noticing shit before everyone else. Seeing the details other people missed. All really good skills to have. Skills I'm proud of.

It's just that I couldn't turn it completely off. You spend that long not trusting anything in your environment, scanning and questioning every little detail and movement and sound where there's no guarantees and no safety nets and you get used to it. Then you go back stateside and everything feels like it's surrounded by guard rails that are wrapped in kid-safe foam padding, but you're still stuck in alert mode because that's what you do.

I didn't have any public breakdowns or go around beating people, but I had lots of flashes of anger over dumb shit. It was like having a scale of 0-100 tolerance for bullshit normally, but instead yours skips 1-79 and starts at 80.

Going to a bar with friends was like when you're on day three of no sleep and had way too many energy drinks. You just can't settle down because and you're trying to track everything that's going on but its all muddy and you can't focus because there's way too much going on, and you're easily irritated and unstable because you're mentally off-balance because you can't tune out your surroundings enough to get your bearings.

Bumping for op

>>32468090
You aren't alone in that, I had almost the exact same issues. The uneasiness around crowds/groups, the temper flares when I would get interrupted mid conversation by random people, and something you didn't mention but probably felt the same about was shitty drivers/being cut off on the road.

The anger/aggression was pretty easy to identify, the loneliness and "looking for a new purpose" set in later on and was tougher to kick.

>>32468090
t. Admin clerk

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>needs help
>doesn't look up a psychiatrist or therapist
>doesn't seek out a support group
>Comes to a Gaelic mountaineering mailing list for help

Ya dun goofed OP.

>>32466923
Why do I surf here. All happy and shit because I've had a few drinks.

Yeah buddy it sucks donkey. The worst thing is nobody understands. Doctor diagnosed me with it 2 weeks ago even tho I've been out 5 years.

Lost my wife because she was fed up with my shit. Just as well. Fuck her, bipolar spoiled millennial bitch.

>>32467192
Not the guy you replied to, but I'm a pog and literally look at dicks for my current job. Fuck MA staff.

>>32468609
heh. sorry to hear that bud.

>>32466923
Been there man. Afghanistan 2010. I think about it all the time. Not quite as much as I used to though. Just my career in general. I hate civilian life still. Its been over 2 years since I got out. I have a family, kids, a good job, friends, but I feel empty at times.

Look man. You need help, and you need support, you also need to figure out what moment is fucking you up, or if its life.

At the VA ask for an OIF/ OEF vet represenative. Let them know what you are dealing with. Keep going to different VAs till you find one who can help. Call first, and dont waste your time.

Start here.
http://www.oefoif.va.gov/map.asp

Its gonna be...ok..ish. eventually. Im dealing with my shit from time to time. My lungs are shitting out on me fast, dont have a many years left in me. I'm mad, mad that my body is failing, mad that I cant serve again. Angry as fuck that I am getting weaker. Depressed when I look at my kids. Fuck. I hope they remember me fondly. I try.

Sharing this shit so maybe you dont feel alone. I dont fucking know. I want you to be ok man. Just dont be fucking stupid, and carry on. Survive. Never stop breathing, take the steps to get help, treat it like another fight. Make these fuckers help you, dont a single dead end defeat you. Fuck man. Dont let all the dead ends, fuckers standing in your way, or hard feelings stop you. If you have one thing left in you, its survival. Use that to relentlessly seek your goal of some sort of salvation.

Good luck. I'll ghost around this thread for a bit if its still up.

>>32467788
Its not always PTSD, just sometimes an "adjustment disorder:". Some people adapt well to war, others dont, but we all change a little, or at least open doors in ourselves we didnt know were there. Once they are open you cant close them, and you can only pretend to be like what you were before. Ya know? I miss it.

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>>32468538
>>32468090
Bingo.

>>32467852
>since the combat they've seen was low intensity goat herders firing pot shots and setting IEDs. That's not an actual war.
It's not actual war; its worse. In actual war you know who the bad guys are. In actual war you don't need to worry that every kid you see is about to suicide bomb you. In actual war you have a goal you're working towards, so it doesn't all feel pointless.

>>32466923
>>32467616

This. POG dude here but after you get out your detachment from civilian life is pretty damn real. PTSD makes that worse. As a younger and stupid teenager in the army a couple years ago, I had to go to a rehab program with some men who had both PTSD and drug addictions. I had a really horrible chain of command and it got to the point where we had guys going AWOL.

I'm still in that period of time where I don't give a shit about being average myself. I try to distract myself with videogames, movies, anything entertaining while I hit that reset button. All the money I managed to save in the army got put into a travel vehicle so I can cruise around the US for a while to take that year off. If that's not your thing though, I'd take a distracting job. Anything out at sea is pretty cool and is away from all the noise of society.

>>32467788
if you look it up turns out it's biological. different people react to certain situations differently. consider yourself gifted

>>32467085
Become a mercenary, anon. There is only the desert for you now.

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Can you guys describe what specifically causes you to have PTSD?

The training, or just the uneasiness of being in an unconventional war where kids will blow themselves up to kill you?

here's an ass as a token

>>32470279

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, so, a traumatic experience...?
The people that get PTSD from training are exceptionally weak people.

My sister is a physiotherapist who treats vets and she described PTSD as "a permanent startle reflex".

Don't forget about VFW chapters. More recent vets should join and often invigorate the established veteran's groups. You can meet vets from different wars with a wide range of life experience.

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I'm a little tea pot, short and stout.

This is my handle.

This is my spout...

Now tip me over, and pour me out

He says to no one, because he's surfing 4chan and talking to a wall.

Yeah I got the post traumatic stress dizzle my nizzle.

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>>32467192
Fuck off Faggot. I am a pogue for the pogues and had to clean up after a fucking truck that hit by an IED. You try picking up a friends body parts. So take your holier than thou shit and fuck off.

>>32467788
Many factors including the concussion from operating some weapons can affect what the brain experiences in war. Noise can too. I met one combat photog who was at/near Fallujah who has obvious PTSD (he'd been in all sorts of direct combat) but what put him over the edge was being camped under/near a frequently firing MLRS battery because the noise got to him.

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/12/20/506146595/pentagon-shelves-blast-gauges-meant-to-detect-battlefield-brain-injuries

>>32470527
see>>32467308

I forgive you tho since theres no way to really tell thats me

try weed. works for me.

>>32466923
Deal with it pretty much. Face the shit brought you low helps.

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ITT: The "I have worse PTSD than you do" pissing contest.

My grandma still likes me. So I have that.

Grandma love is × 2. I'm racking up big boy points like nobody's business.

Guy goes in wanting to shoot sand niggers and knows that any combat job just does that and comes out fine.

Faggot goes in thinking they're promoting freedom and security and gets PTSD because reality was too much for them.

>>32466923
Not has served, but I know the feels. You can always do what I do and drink heavily when not at work.

>>32471315

no one cares about shooting sand niggers, common misconception about PTSD

>>32471328
Truth. No one gives two shits about a hadji fuck. Sometimes the dead kids did bother me.

But it's the death of your friends and comrades that does it.

>>32471315
>chickenshit anon shitposts from his moms basement, acquires autism

>>32471250
said the anime poster

>>32467171
Tell me more about the deployments that you haven't been on where you've depended on non-grunts to not get killed.

>>32471400
What's your VA percentage oh wait

>neverserved.

People are getting PTSD during fucking peace time because they have to physically work a little and hear some loud sounds occasionally.

>>32466923
ITT: pussies. What happened to all the patriotic rhetoric were so used to hearing? Don't feel bad anons. You did it for our freedom ;)

>>32471410

I didnt claim any cause I fell for the "if you have a mental illness theyll take your guns!" and my daddy issues.

You sound like you malingered while you were in. I know worthless soldiers with 100% that only deployed once.

>>32466923
Think the best advice I got before I mustered out was to make a clean break with anything military.
Do some civilian jobs throw yourself into it with some effort and after awhile you sort of wind down into whatever the fuck passes for an ordinary person back in the world. You never really come out of a conflict untouched and you won't be the first or the last to find it difficult, if you can find someone to talk too or even just hang out with once a week, go fishing, play some games, help out at a charity etc and other shit like that, it will help a lot.
I can't really say getting horrendously pissed or stoned will work either, if anything it just sort of buries a few things and lets a couple of others run wild for a time.

At the end of the day, you need a format for life after service, so if you can find someone to basically give you a hand there it'll go a long way

>>32471476
that and the drawdown and the forced separations. I just wanted to get fixed and get back out there.

Start the morning with a Patrick Bateman's grooming regimen

>>32466923
PTSD doesn't exist

grow up you weak-minded faggot

>>32466923
>a Navy uniform.png

Coulda picked a better image op.

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>>32466923
Civi here
Why are you guys so fucked up to each other
Looks to me like a shitty behavior you "learned" over seas. Just like ptsd. You guys aren't so different. I feel equally empathetic for both types of people.

I won't reach one of you because you've built yourself a thick skull. One day something's gonna bash it in though, and it will hurt :^)

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my dads buddy carried an m-60 and was a gunner in vietnam, returned 100% disabled from ptsd, on shit tons of pills, one of the only things that help him calm down is
>DUDE WEED LMAO
but really, it does help and if you are in a medical or recreational state you may find a good treatment, even if its with non psychoactive components, such as CBD

>>32467788
THIS dear lord this.

Everyone I know that claims to have PTSD were broken nerds before they went in, the army isn't going to fix that.

I consider most to be attention whores. How are you going to get PTSD when you are just sitting around using power point in the desert?

>>32473266
>PowerPoint slide is out into wrong order because of lack of sleep (actually because I was hung over when I made it)
>everything is misspelt and generally disorganised
>sweat starts dripping down my brow
>heart beats hard and fast
>projector stops working
all muscles in my face and body contract and start shaking uncontrollably
>frantically try to fix the projector so I can continue with my presentation
>lazor focus, all my senses are working on complete overdrive, literally feel like I could hear someone taking their morning shit in another building
>accidentally knock over a cup of coffee in the chaos, cup hits the floor in slow motion
>breathing uncontrollably
>pressure of the situation gets to me and start screaming and crawl under the nearest table, close my eyes and just want it all to end

War is hell.

>>32471837
>I live in my mom's basement so I know stuff about life, the post