welcome to the family, it can be hard to be around someone when they
are suffering from PTSD, many of us here lost loves ones while we
went thru PTSD because they were not strong enough to take the
initive to learn about PTSD and try to help us. I want to first
commend you for not only taking the 1st step and acknowledging the
problem, but also taking the second step to try and find some
answers. PTSD is brought on by trauma, be it one incident or a
serious of incidents, it can manifest itself in nightmares, daymares,
flashbacks, anxiety, depression, paranoia, forgetfulness, and many
other ways. It can get better, but not without help. encourage your
husband to seek a counseler in his area who specializes in PTSD. you
should also speak with the counseler so you know what to expect. I
also encourage you to call around now, before he gets home, and join
a support group for soldiers & famlies with PTSD. what you saw was a
small glimpse of what is to come, and i am not saying this to scare
you, i am saying this so you are better able to prepare yourself.
you can speak with your military family support group and they may be
able to reccomend a group for returning soldiers. you have a tough
road ahead of you for a while, but it can and will get better of you
act now, and don't put it off. encourage your husband to join an
online group (if he is a computer person) be it this group or
another, there are several out there made recently by middle east-
vets for middle east vets. they are people who saw what he saw and
lived what he lived and they will give him an outlet where he can
talk about those things without feeling like he is unloading on some
poor person who cannot understand him. that is the hardest thing
with PTSD you feel like no one understands you. that is why i made
this group, i felt like no one i knew understood what i was going
thru. i am a rape victim and i was an EMT, and i knew the only
people that really seemed to understand me and not cringe when i
spoke were fellow EMT's police and firemen (and women), that is why i
strongly suggest helping him get involved with a group of people who
have been there done that, and i strongly suggest you get involved
with a similar group for familes of people who have been there done
that. please remember to be patient it takes time, it took me 3
years to ask for help and another year after that to feel i was
gaining control over my own mind again, thats why i stress the
importance of early intervention...i should get going but for right
now i will leave you with these...

just some things you may encounter...not everyone reacts the same
ways...and these are only the things i remember doing...

withdrawl - a lot of people withdrawl from everything and everyone
and become like a shell of thier former self, it is easier to just
not deal with people then it is to deal with people. (i retreated
into a video game world for several months at one point)
anxiety/paranoia - uncontrolable fear that something bad has or will
happen. at one point i was even afraid to go into my basement to do
my laudry for fear i would be attacked, at another point if someone
was 5 minutes late and did not answer thier cell phone or did not
have a cell phone... i was on the phone calling hospitals to make
sure they had not been in a car accident. one night i even stayed up
all night because a friend who i thought was going to stop by
didn't...and i had no way to reach him...even though i knew it was
not a definate thing that he would stop by
OCD - obsessive complusive disorder (often linked to the anxiety and
paranoia)i would check my closet 10 times before going to sleep to
make sure there was no one int here waiting to kill me...but iw oulkd
do it ten times and then i could not get into bed unless i kept my
eyes on the closet while i went to turn off the light and got in
bed...and i thought if i took my eyes off it for just a moment
someone could have snuck in there...now i knew at the time this was
irrational...i knew that no one could ave gotten past me around my
bed and into the closet....but i would sometimes do this ritual of
closet checking and walking backwards to turn off the light 40 ties
in a night before i was satisfied and could sleep


Amy

--- In emsfirepoliceptsd@yahoogroups.com, "Deanna S." <momx290@c...>
wrote:
>
> Thanks for letting me join. PTSD is new to me and I am wanting to
learn. My
> DH Matt is a military policeman with the USAR. He has been in Iraq
over 14
> months now. He is to be home next month. He was granted 2 week
leave back in
> Dec. and that is when I realized that there was a problem. He wasn't
> sleeping and when he did it was very fitful. He had panic attacks
as his
> return date approached. He couldn't remember things like friends
names and
> it would upset him terribly. He refused to go to the doctors
because he
> couldn't risk any problems he was having going into his service
record ( his
> words not mine) Now that he is coming home I want to be better
prepared to
> help him. It wasn't until I spoke to other military families and
veterans
> that I even heard of PTSD. I could write pages of the terrible
things he saw
> and did in Bahgdad but I'm sure you can imagine. I just want him
to be ok
> and to help him how ever I can so I'm hoping you all can help me.
Thanks
> again.
>
>
> Proud wife to U.S. Army Sgt. Matt Smith and mom to Marissa & Jacob!
> Praying for Matt's safety in Iraq and until they all come homE!
>
> Check out my family pics...Just added many new ones from
Matt!!!!!
> http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/getrealgirl1974/album?.dir=/
> Learn to pray for your DH- http://groups.yahoo
> com/group/powerofprayingwives2
> No one gets out of this life alive- How are you going to spend your
> eternity? JESUS is the ONLY answer!!!!!
> GOD BLESS YOU <><
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]