PTSD Fight Back Home

I keep wondering why it is so easy for servicemembers to ask for all the help you can get in combat but find it almost impossible to ask for help at home because of it. Why? It wasn't a "sign of weakness" to call for reinforcements in Vietnam, Kuwait, Afghanistan or Iraq or anywhere else for that matter.

Then why can't you ask for help because of what you went through there?

Is it because in combat you were worried more about your buddies more than you are worried about yourself? Seriously?

Then maybe it is time to think about all of this in a different way especially if you don't want to "bother anyone" because now you think it is about you and your survival. It is always about the people you care about and those who care about you.

Asking for help takes a hell of a lot of courage and that is something you had when you fought side by side with your buddies. Healing takes a lot of dedication and that is also something you had when you were there and doing whatever you had to do no matter how hard it was.

Why in the hell would you think it was supposed to be easier afterwards? Did you think about your family and friends or what your suffering was doing to them? Ok, then think about what your healing can do for them!

When you were in combat, they assumed you were in danger and when you can home, they assumed the danger was over for you.

Don't assume they can figure out what is going on if you just push them away, sulk, hide, get drunk or high. If you think they won't blame themselves for the way you're acting, think again because as the wife of a Vietnam veteran for over 30 years I'd need a supercomputer to calculate how much blame I put on my own shoulders and I knew what PTSD was before we got married. (Shit, I'm still only human after all)

Plus on the flip side, you're really not fighting for yourself back home either.

Think of the number of veterans lost everyday because they either didn't ask for help or didn't find it. Once you get better then you can pass on what you learned to them.

You're really fighting for them all over again. So how about it? Ready to fight for survival again? Ready to take the next step of healing toward a better quality of life?

This is PTSD Awareness Month and it is time to call in reinforcements.