Veterans face enemy at home: Denial, post-traumatic stress disorder

Veterans face enemy at home: Denial, post-traumatic stress disorder

By JANE MUSGRAVE

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Having spent decades battling ghosts from his yearlong tour of Vietnam, Max Nelson can't fathom how the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan cope.

"They do two or three tours," the 63-year-old Greenacres man said. "I don't think I could have handled a second tour. I just don't think I could do it."

As it is, Nelson is still dealing with the scars of the year he spent in the jungles of Vietnam — scars that were deeply hidden until the twin towers came tumbling down Sept. 11, 2001.

When he was pressed into work to restore communications to the damaged but habitable Verizon Building next to the World Trade Center, all his memories of Vietnam came flooding back.

"It was like war," he said of the scene at ground zero. "It brings you right back. It came right back. You couldn't do anything. You were helpless."

Now being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, Nelson said he is hoping the men and women fighting today in the Middle East don't wait 30 years to seek help. But the Army veteran suspects many will.

"They are in denial. It hasn't manifested itself. They don't realize what's happened to them and that they should seek treatment," he said.

For years, veterans rights groups have complained that the military, while coming up with new and improved weapons to protect troops' bodies, is not doing enough to protect troops' minds.
go here for more
Veterans face enemy at home: Denial

I did this video for the National Guards coming back from Iraq and Afghaistan. While I've made over 20 videos this one is very important because as bad as it is for the active duty military, it's harder on the National Guards because they lack the support when they come home. Often they have to head right back to work and do not have what they need to heal. They need help to heal. If you know a member of the National Guard, support them by understanding they may need more help than just time to get over it.

PTSD I Grieve - watch more videos