Veteran Talks About PTSD

Message to all the veterans out there thinking they're hiding anything, you're not. The people who know you, know what you're like notice. They may not know what the "it" is you're trying to hide from them, but believe me, they know something is not right, you are not the same and you are acting differently.

While you cannot control what PTSD is doing to you any more than you can control the nightmares, unless you get help, admit you need it and to the people in your life, they will think it's their fault you are acting the way you do instead of the wound you brought home with you. You can't cover it up with drinking or not talking anymore. You can't hide it by denying it. It's not a problem you caused or could avoid and no matter what the military tells you, you could not toughen you mind to prevent it any more than you could changed the fact you were a caring person.

It does not come from inside of you but comes from outside and attacks what makes you, you. That's why they call it Post Traumatic Stress. It comes from after a traumatic event. Trauma is Greek for wound. Now do you get it? Now do you understand it? Still want to deny it? Still want to let your family suffer thinking the chaos in the house is because of them? Still want to treat your friends as if they are total strangers you cannot trust with the same life you were willing to trust them with when you were deployed? You are a lot smarter than that!

Veteran Talks About PTSD

A former South Dakota National Guard soldier who was shot at repeatedly while serving in Iraq still suffers from post-traumatic stress. She wants people to know it's a real disorder that affects a lot more people than you think.

Health officials say the stress of repeat and extended tours is considered a main contributor to post traumatic stress disorder.

"I can totally understand perfectly," Paula Kettenburg of Sioux Falls.

In June of 2005, Paula Kettenburg returned home after serving 18 months in Iraq. Gun fire and grenades were constant threats. She suffers from post traumatic stress but wasn't diagnosed until just recently.

"I hid it for a long time and didn't get help and I wish I would have sooner gone in and ask for help," Kettenburg said.
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Veteran Talks About PTSD