Combat PTSD harder on the spouse than most people know

Wife of alumnus veteran suffers with husband battling PTSD
Posted: Friday, August 3, 2012
By CHRISTY HUNTER
Summer Editor

Editor’s Note: Names have been changed to protect the identities of the persons in this story.

In 2007, Claire Scott filled a black envelope with the funeral arrangements she had made in case of her husband’s death.

She had gathered the numbers of friends and relatives who she knew would need to be called. She had already gone to the funeral home, shopped for caskets and selected the service details she thought would be best.

She knew that if her newly-wed husband, Dan, a Purdue alumnus, did actually die serving in Iraq, these rational decisions would not come as easily. So she pinned the envelope to a board by the front door and told her best friend Chris he was in charge if anything happened. After that, there was nothing left to do but wait, and hope.

Flash forward six years and Dan has been home for five of them. They have OK jobs and three boxer dogs. Alumna Claire Scott, however, hasn’t done much else since then but waiting and hoping. This is because Dan’s body technically made it home all right – he was injured, though not severely – but his mind did not.
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