Physically whole but mentally torn: Veteran with PTSD

Memories of this come back.

A car bomb in Iraq

A car fire here

When they drive down a road here, they can remember there. When they hear a loud noise, they can remember them back there. It all comes back when they least expect it. This is what a flashback does. It takes them back to where their lives were in danger.

Physically whole but mentally torn: Veteran with post traumatic ...
KTKA.com - Topeka,KS,USA

Story by Mike Belt

12 a.m. Tuesday, November 11, 2008

There are certain roads Ted Lawyer won’t drive on when he’s alone. They remind him of roads in Iraq.

Driving under bridges also makes him nervous.

So do crowds. If Lawyer can’t avoid a crowd he tries to stay on its fringe.

And Lawyer has an anger problem. There have been times he’s gotten upset with other drivers so he followed them for several blocks, honking his horn and yelling at them. And he went home from work a few times because of his anger.

“I do anything I can to avoid a conflict with someone,” Lawyer said. “At the same time, if you do something to show disrespect or make me feel like I’ve got to fight, then it’s full game on. I go from flight to fight instantly.”

Lawyer, a Lawrence resident, hasn’t been the same mentally or physically since he returned from serving a year in Iraq with the Kansas Army National Guard. At age 57, Lawyer, then a 1st sergeant, arrived in Iraq in September 2005 with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery of the 1st Battalion, 127th Field Artillery. His company included 150 soldiers. Among their duties was providing security for top U.S. commanders and diplomats.

During the two years since he returned stateside, Lawyer has been diagnosed as having post traumatic stress disorder and various physical problems, including daily headaches and back, leg and neck pain. He’s had flashbacks and blackouts. A few weeks ago, a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury was added to the already-long list.

Lawyer is undergoing outpatient treatment for PTSD and taking part in physical therapy at Colmery-O’Neil Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Topeka. It all helps, he said. And he thinks he is making progress.

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