Parents Grieve Pubilicaly to Raise PTSD Awareness

Parents Cope with Soldier's Suicide by Helping Others
NBC San Diego
By Andie Adams
Jun 8, 2014

A soldier’s suicide has motivated his family to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder, culminating in a resource fair Saturday to make sure others get the help they need.

Howard and Jean Somers still grieve for their son Daniel, who took his own life roughly one year ago.

Daniel was a sergeant with the California Army National Guard who served during the Iraq War.

His time on the battlefield left him with PTSD and Gulf War Syndrome, and his transition back to civilian life proved too difficult.

“He was married. We knew it was difficult for Daniel and his wife to sleep in the same bed because if she touched him during the night, it caused him flashbacks,” said Howard.

The father told NBC 7 he and his family had to walk on eggshells around Daniel. They knew he was having issues, but they did not know how to approach him or what resources were available in the community to help.

“He couldn’t get up before 12 o clock, couldn’t function, had severe headaches,” Howard said. “There were just so many things that were going on with him that we just didn’t know how to deal with.”

Now, Howard and Jean have made it their mission to make sure other veterans and families do not suffer as Daniel and his family did.
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