Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Gives One Iraq Veteran A New Mission

Oct 24 2008 8:04 AM EDT

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Gives One Iraq Veteran A New Mission
After being diagnosed, Bryan Adams decided to help fellow vets recognize the symptoms of PTSD.
By Joseph Patel, with reporting by Kim Stolz

The weight of the wars the United States is fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq lies heaviest on the young soldiers in combat. But the perils of war are not just felt on the battlefield. From 2003 to 2007, 40,000 returning veterans were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to CNN.

Everyone with PTSD experiences the condition differently, and quite often they don't even recognize they have it right away. Bryan Adams, a 24-year-old Army veteran, didn't know he had PTSD when he came home from a year-long tour in Iraq in 2004. Adams settled back in with his family near Camden, New Jersey, and went through his days much like he did before he joined the Army. He enrolled in the local community college, hung out with his friends and dated girls.


Slowly, though, the Purple Heart recipient started to transform into a different person. "My friends and I would all go out, and I'd flip out on my friends and their girlfriends," Adams told MTV News. "Just saying really mean stuff that I didn't even know I was saying. I had relationship problems, too, with a couple of different girlfriends. I was mean."

(Read more about Bryan Adams and what he's doing to help other vets with PTSD in the MTV Newsroom blog.)

Not only were Adams' relationships deteriorating, he was also drinking heavily. He would cut class and hang out at a local bar. He said he would sometimes drive drunk and often at speeds that were well beyond the limit. He got into a couple of car accidents and was arrested on a DUI charge. "I just didn't care at all," he admitted.
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