Two Army Families Deal With PTSD, and Suicide

Two Army Families Deal With PTSD, and Suicide
Two Army Wives Share Stories About Their PTSD-Affected Husbands

By BOB WOODRUFF and MICHAEL MURRAY
April 13, 2010

In addition to the insurgents who fight from the hillsides before vanishing into caves in Afghanistan, the U.S. Army has fought an equally elusive and silent enemy here at home: suicide.

Many family members of soldiers returning from their deployment with post-traumatic stress disorder say the stigma associated with seeking psychiatric help has hurt their cause.

Last year marked the fifth consecutive year the Army experienced a record number of suicides in its ranks.

As with thousands of soldiers before them, and thousands more likely to come, Maj. Chris Galloway and Master Sgt. Jim Haus returned home tormented by their experiences at war.


"His behavior was really changing a lot after Afghanistan," Haus' wife, Amanda Cherry-Haus, said. "He was drinking a lot ... he would do all these reckless, endangering things that were obviously PTSD and say, 'No, I don't have a problem.'"

Galloway's wife, Shannon, said, "I was sensing depression and I was sensing probably some PTSD and I talked to him about it, and he was like, 'No, no, no. The Army says I'm fine. I'm fine … You're the crazy one.'"
read more here
Two Army Families Deal With PTSD, and Suicide