When I began writing this series I had very little knowledge of what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was and the impact it had on our veterans daily lives. Listening to Doctors, Psychotherapists, Counselors and the Veterans diagnosed with PTSD, I still have a lot to learn. But, I do have a much better understanding of what a veteran diagnosed with PTSD goes thru on a daily basis.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD – has been an accepted diagnosis since 1980. And that’s a good thing. So why is it now making controversial headlines? Why are some clinicians – along with a wide range of veterans’ advocates, women’s groups and others – arguing for changing the name of the diagnosis, PTSD, to PTSI – for Post-traumatic Stress Injury? (SOURCE: An Injury, Not A Disorder www.dartcenter.org)

These are the true stories told thru hundreds of hours of research and travel and listening to the veterans describe what caused their trauma, medical treatment and how they live with a diagnosis the American Psychiatric Association calls PTSD. Thank you for taking the time to read each segment and hearing “Their Stories.”

“Trauma on top of trauma. Lock and load, lock and load. When you stockpile hurt and pain, now they are finding it is showing up in the body. The body will say no. People who had trauma will come and seek help after their first stroke, after their first seizure, after their first heart attack, the body will shut down and say no.”

The main treatments for people with PTS are psychotherapy (talk therapy), medication, or a combination of the two. Everyone is different, so a treatment that works for one person may not work for another.

For some reason something wasn’t right that day. I had taken my medication and something still wasn’t right. I didn’t feel good. I was angry, I was sad, I was going from one emotion and then I snapped. I was in my house in Afghanistan, outside of my house was Afghanistan and I was going to kill everybody there. It was almost a swat incident.