PTSD posts open up healing

Thirty years ago something like this was not possible, then again, there were very few even talking about PTSD openly at all.

This post came from a friend of a veteran's son but opened up a lot of other people as they shared their own stories. Some also have PTSD or have someone in their life with it. They are talking and this is a wonderful thing as heartbreaking as some of the posts are to read.

We've come a long way since the early days of discovering what wounds came home with the veterans. It's not a matter of the wounds being new because they are as old as man, but no one wanted to talk about it. Veterans were sent to mental institutions or, as with my husband's uncle, sent to live on a farm to be "taken care of" until they died. These veterans suffered just as much as the families had no one to talk to about any of it. It was the well kept secret of the family.

This changed when Vietnam veterans came back and fought for research and treatment at the same time their own suffering was taken care of by using alcohol and drugs, usually resulting in broken families and incarcerations. Still even they didn't want to talk about the suicides among them either. Families searched frantically for help, advice and support but knew that would all be impossible to find if no one wanted to talk about it. If they were lucky, someone they know would mention something from time to time and discussions would breakdown the loneliness they felt.

Veterans would seek out other veterans, soon starting their own groups and they began to finally talk. They learned how to lean on each other the same way they did in battle but this time fighting a battle to heal.

Twenty years ago, the ability of the Internet opened up even more conversations as people were able to reach out across the country and share. Things changed for the better, the isolation and loneliness was replaced by a common bond and today we see posts like this.

The person did not have a PTSD veteran but was exposed to the reality they live with because he cared.

I witnessed my friend's Dad have a PTSD attack this weekend... it has really messed me up.