PTSD Affects Soldiers Adjusting to Life after War

As the wife of a Vietnam veteran, I can personally testify that knowing what PTSD was and why it was haunting my husband, not only held this family together, it helped him to heal. Even with all the passing years between Vietnam and receiving help from the VA, he is living a life again instead of dying a very slow death. I've seen too many veterans abandoned by their families simply because no one told them what PTSD was or what they could do about it. Therapists avoided including the family in the healing process and no one was offering them support, excluding them when they needed to be included. They ended up making PTSD worse simply because they didn't understand.

It became my mission to correct this. While I work with veterans so that they move past the stigma and seek help, it is equally important for the families to be informed so they do not make the same mistakes unknowingly making PTSD worse. I've been married for over 25 years, so I know first hand families do not need to fall apart and veterans can heal even if they cannot be cured.

Here's a link to my book, For the Love of Jack . It's about 18 years of living with PTSD. It's for free but please consider making a donation so that I can continue this work.

Here's one of the first videos I made so that everyone can understand what it took me years to learn. Wounded Minds. Over on the sidebar, there are even more videos on PTSD. Please use them and pass them on to anyone you think may be helped by them. These are also for free but again, please consider making a donation to support my ministry of helping them heal.

Wounded Minds, PTSD

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 19, 2009

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Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome Affects Soldiers Adjusting to Life after War
Corinne Hautala

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Although police have accused Spc. Kip Lynch in the slayings of his wife and baby daughter, they have not explained what led up to the horrific deaths Monday.

But psychologists say many soldiers face challenges when they return from a combat zone. It is not uncommon to see soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome when they return home from a deployment, said Cindy Alderson, the director of Military and Veteran Programs and Services at University of North Florida.

Alderson, a Navy veteran, knows personally the struggles of returning home after a long deployment.

She said loved ones can help service members by spotting the signs of PTSD and then encouraging them to seek help.
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Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome Affects Soldiers