combat ptsd

Post traumatic stress disorder is what they call it now, PTSD for short. In times past, shell shocked, battle fatigued, and the like. Minimizing names giving the illusion that time and rest would give relief to the nightmares and flashbacks. That, however, is far from the case.

The statistics are staggering. 40,000 new cases since 2003. And those are only the diagnosed cases. Too many soldiers are coming home and finding little or no help for PTSD. Many refuse to even admit they suffer from it. It’s taboo. How could a man trained for war be so weak?

Until more people, soldiers, understand it is a legitimate physical disorder with real physical markers it will remain in the shadows along with those suffering silently with it. Research is promising, showing those markers and in some cases revealing there may be a preexisting susceptibility to developing the disorder. Traumatic brain injuries have also been linked to PTSD.

There is tons of information out there for those who want it and need it. All the symptoms, all the effects, the triggers, everything is on the net if one uses their googlefu. And though I will gather and post links to information and sites to find help, I will cover mostly what I have experienced living with a combat Vet suffering from PTSD. My goal is for one person, one family member, one Vet, one soldier to recognize that PTSD has reared it’s head in his or her life.

Know your enemy.

this page is a work in progress as I gather my information and organize links

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) An anxiety disorder based on how an individual responds to a traumatic event. According to DSM-IV, the following criteria must be met:

• The person has experienced a traumatic event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others, and the person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror
• The traumatic event is re-experienced in specific ways such as recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections or dreams of the event
• Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma or numbing of general responsiveness
• Persistent symptoms of increased arousal, such as hypervigilance or irritability
• Duration of the disturbance (symptoms in Criteria B, C, and D) is more than one month
• The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning.
PTSD may be acute, chronic, or with delayed onset. Many individuals with DID (MPD) also have PTSD. The literature sometimes describes DID(MPD) as complex and/or chronic PTSD. Adapted from DSM-IV, p. 427-429.

PTSD sufferers have many symptoms. One I was not aware of was pseudoseizures. They are very frightening and disorienting to the person having them.

pseudoseizures “Pseudoseizures are sudden changes in a person’s behavior and/or mental state that resemble epileptic seizures but which are not caused by a physical disorder of the brain. They may look like any type of epileptic seizure: staring unresponsively, generalized stiffening and rhythmic jerking, movements of only a few body parts, or alterations of awareness. During these spells, brain cells are firing normally and the brain wave tracing does not show the changes which are characteristic of epileptic seizures. ?”Several research studies have found that many pseudoseizures are really dissociative trance episodes, dissociative switching of ego states, or dissociative states in which unconscious emotional distress is expressed. Many studies have noted high rates of sexual and physical abuse among pseudoseizure patients and pointed to abuse as one cause of pseudoseizures. Pseudoseizures have been reported in dissociative identity disorder patients and may be the symptom that leads to seeking treatment. There are non-dissociative causes for pseudoseizures, so persons who suffer from them should not be assumed to have a dissociative disorder.” (Elizabeth S. Bowman, M.D., personal correspondence, 22 August 1994.)

above quotes are from
Sidran Glossary of terms on Post Traumatic Stress