Home from Iraq, sleep is now the enemy for veterans
In Mira Mesa, a former Marine fights nightmares by struggling to stay awake. He finds compassion from fellow veterans but little relief.
By Jia-Rui Chong, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 5, 2008
SAN DIEGO -- By the time the sun began to rise one recent Friday over his Mira Mesa neighborhood, Mitch Hood had been up for about 18 hours.
He punched a caffeine tablet out of a blister pack and washed it down with two cans of Red Bull. He finished it off with a gulp of Pepsi.
He figured this would keep him awake four more hours. Then, he jumped back into his video game.
Hood, 25, spent two tours with the Marines in Iraq. Now, like many other veterans and millions of civilians, he faces a new enemy: sleep.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have nightmares and I'm going to get stuck there," he said. "I try with all my strength not to sleep."
When he eventually crashes and sleep overtakes him, Hood relives combat, or sometimes his mind creates new horror-filled scenarios. Once, he punched his fiancee, Natalya Gibson, while having a nightmare. She insisted it didn't hurt, but Hood has not stopped apologizing.
Sleep and wakefulness issues were the most common health problems described by recently returned soldiers, researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center found in a study published last year.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sleep5-2008aug05,0,5736012.story
Just ask the wife of a Vietnam veteran and they will tell you about nightmares. Never, ever try to wake them up while in striking distance. A lot of us ended up with bloody noses and bruises. Some wives were knocked out because the bunch was so hard. They have no clue where they are when you wake them up. Go to the foot of the bed, say their name calmly and if you have to touch them, shake their foot gently. Any other body part you touch is something they may be "protecting from the enemy" but the enemy never really went after feet. It's the safest place to touch.
this is true. the best way to wake up my dad (a Nam vet) was to call him from the doorway of his room otherwise it was too risky. we were told never to be near dad when he was waking up incase he lashed out
ReplyDeleteI used to have nightmares of being attacked. Yoga
ReplyDeleteand meditation changed that. Here is a exercise
series called" WARRIORS TENSION RELEASE"
www.pinklotus.org/-%20KY%20Kriya%20for%20the%20warriors%20tension%20release.htm
This releases deep seated tension
God bless you
Rjc
God bless you too Rjc. Yoga is calming. The mind-body-spirit connection being addressed properly offers tremendous healing. For some it's Yoga, for others ancient Chinese training and then we are also seeing that something as simple as taking walks is very helpful.
ReplyDelete