While I’m not doing GREAT emotionally/mentally/physically now that I’m home, I’m doing pretty good. I got married, I got a job, and I bought a home. I’m keeping it together and taking it day by day.

I could hear Tim wrestling with his experiences in his voice, though his words implied he felt resolved. I can’t tell a man how to feel or solve his problems… but I can recognize when someone appears conflicted.

I think there are several issues veterans of Iraq wrestle with… that aren’t always “trauma” related. I know for myself, I have certain adjustment issues since returning that I don’t feel are tied to trauma endured in Iraq. I think a lot of my issues are actually my sense of “self” still unraveling from all the stress of combat, not particular instances. For example, I know I get frustrated sometimes when dealing with simple problems at home, not because I was sniped at while ex-filtrating a hide position one night with my team, but because I’ve simply forgotten the everyday “normal” protocol of day-to-day life. Perhaps Tim is experiencing this?

I was conditioned through my experiences to resolve issues with certain actions. These scenarios simply don’t happen for me any more. While I still have small conflicts in every day life, arguing a charge on my phone bill, etc. my “toolbox” of conflict resolution, doesn’t fit. That being said, I feel almost more stressed by these little things… and that stress triggers other things inside me, and then I find myself not sleeping, or withdrawing from people.

Why isn’t there a better definition and understanding of “PTSD” that seems to reflect our actions/feelings/emotions? When I read literature about PTSD, it sounds more like the ‘side effects’ portion of an allergy medication.. ‘may cause headache, sleeplessness, irritability…’

I appreciate the show though… thanks for trying to educate and create a discussion and portray the realities some of us live and wrestle with.

Nightmares and anxiety leads to problems falling asleep and staying asleep, which just fuels the inclination to over react to any challenge. I’ll bet he sorrounds himself with weapons to feel more secure, ready for a fight anytime. Then comes the night sweats waking him after his nightmares. Heart arrythemias are not uncommon with PTSD just like high blood pressure in strange environments (fight or flight). He would do himself and his family a great service by seeking treatment now.

The show was a great service to Society, keep up the good work!

Radio Open Source has an essential show that goes beyond the Walter Reed scandal to exa [...]

Tim, I can only hope that the truth of how horrible war is can be brought back to more Americans. Maybe then, we’ll look before we leap

Brian, You can still have conflict without resorting to violence and you don’t have to go to outer space to find a peaceful county. Just go to Canada.

My deathless prose was excised by mistake. You’ll just have to take my word for it that it was the best post ever, and would have convinced you to see things my way. Forever. Oh and to send me $40 each payday.

This is a paltry reflection of what I wrote;

Canada gets by with ‘lack of violence’ and an underfunded military because the United States picks up a great deal of slack in that area. Not continental defense (which I judge the RCMP could handle nicely with backup from their battalion of infantry and company of tanks*) but in the global arena.

Fiddly stuff like freedom of the seas to make sure trade gets through without overdue interference from pirates and petty nation states and taking care that putative enemies aren’t rearming and trying to hijack huge chunks of Asia and Europe. Again.

It’s a bonus for us because it ensures the dollar is the currency of world trade. And that the other guys don’t feel like they have to arm themselves to the teeth just to keep from being eaten alive.

It has it’s drawbacks of course.

*I kid about the size of their military but not by much. Canada, especially since the fall of the Wall, has specialized in sending their troops in small packets on peace-keeping missions.