Oct

7

Coming Home

Filed Under American Patriotism, Life, PTSD, Today's War | Comments Off on Coming Home

by Stars and Stripes

dave-johnson

He’s a businessman now. He has leisure time. He reads his law books, looks for a house to buy. He sleeps on clean sheets, and takes Hawaiian cruises with his family.

But a part of Dave Johnson is still in Iraq.

A couple of times a week, he wakes up there – “in the middle of a giant explosion,” he said, like the one on his second tour that took out his patrol base, killed one colleague, maimed another and injured a dozen more.

The former sergeant, who enlisted after getting a law degree to do his duty for his country – then was stop-lossed for 18 months – revisits the battleground in his waking life, too.

Every now and then, he says, he’ll have a flashback – “a very, very vivid memory” – of one among six or so events during his first Iraq tour.

A certain suicide bombing in a market, for instance.

“It was the last one I ever went to. We were the first responders,” Johnson, 30, said. “I felt the concussion. The blast wasn’t as big so there were much larger body parts, an arm here, a leg …

“It was me and Capt. [Matt] Lee and a member of the British Parliament. The entire market burned to the ground,” he said.

The memories creep in without warning, he said, and the acute flashback, including increased pulse and perspiration rate and a pounding heart, lasts about 30 seconds. Johnson’s twin brother, who spends a lot of time with him teaching him the family roofing business, can tell when it happens.

“He says, ‘You’re twitching again, dude.’

So Johnson wasn’t surprised to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The nightmares, the residual feelings of terror, the loss of sleep – all of it “affects you all day,” he said. And to have a flashback in the courtroom would not be good, he said.

Experts estimate that fully 20 percent of Iraq-deployed troops have developed PTSD and that nearly all show some post-combat anxiety. Yet despite a Defense Department effort to remove the stigma surrounding such psychological impacts of combat, many soldiers are still hesitant to admit they may be having problems and seek help.

Now Johnson spends his days learning the family roofing business from his brother. He’s looking for a starter house. Evenings he reads up on civil law so he can assist with the firm’s legal work.

Life is good, he said.

Yet as glad as he is to be out, he has few regrets about having been a grunt.

“Riding in a helo, staying up for 50-some hours straight, carrying a machine gun … I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.”

Apr

9

What I Know Now About PTSD

Filed Under Treating PTSD | Comments Off on What I Know Now About PTSD

jan-green-river1I thought some of you following our blog might like to read the few things I have learned in almost forty years of living with someone who has PTSD.  The list is brief because I chose to focus on What I Know from years of experience, so here they are:

PTSD is an invisible ghost that appears in one’s emotional life at the most unexpected times.

  1. It is almost impossible to identify all of the triggers – i.e., things that remind the senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell of the past trauma.
  2. PTSD is the second war the individual must fight once home and it is sometimes even more challenging to succeed.
  3. This second war can be as hideous as the first.  It is often manifested in common places and homes of the veteran.  It affects the entire family – parents, siblings, spouses, children….
  4. PTSD is like throwing a huge rock in the middle of a quiet pond.  The ripples extend far beyond the rock’s impact.  In many cases the displacement seems to suck everything in its path into a black hole where normal life disappears entirely.
  5. Ignoring PTSD symptoms does not make them go away.  They continue to fester.
  6. And most hopeful, PTSD can be managed.  It can be effectively controlled, but only if the person affected admits there is a problem.  As with most problems, awareness is the first step to healing.  Taking steps to get the appropriate help, taking the responsibility for the situation, and doing something to heal is absolutely the best, and sometimes the only viable way to move through the life journey with better emotional and physical health.
  7. One last comment to employers — A person who has fought in combat and served his/her country honorable will definitely serve your organization/company in equal fashion.  He/she will be committed to the work and fellow workers.  He will be focused on the task at hand and will be relentless in making sure that the job is done well.  She will pay attention to the details as well as the big picture.  He will be a dependable asset to your organization.  And most of all, she deserves the opportunity to have a normal, prosperous, and stable life after what she gave to our country and to us.  

Mike MacDonald of the Black Lions CO C 2/28, ’68-69’responded to this recent blog and I thought it was worth adding:

“Demonstrated Team Player” – I run a small company and there are certain things I automatically know about Vets.  They can be as disciplined as they need be, are team players, accept direction, are usually task oriented and  conscientious.”     Thanks, Mike for your comments.