Hello, Not Sure If Im In The Right Place

[13fist]

if this is too far off topic for this forum, just say the word and i'll delete it.

i just got out of the regular army a couple months ago and joined a reserve unit back home.

i'm not sure if that was such a good idea, but i've only been to one drill so far and it wasn't so bad.

that last go in the sandbox left me never ever wanting to be any kind of highspeed or tacticool anything

ever again. hurts me to say it, but i'm done.

so i googled veteran forums and found this place. the thing is, this is harder than i thought.

it sounds so stupid to even type it much less say it out loud. even if i knew who i could talk to about

what is going on with me, i don't know how to talk about it. i tried once and it was a mistake.

[Bonzai]

If you're having problems related to your time in the service, then you're in the right place. It took me many years to seek assistance, during which time, I lived a life full of chaos. I have found the members here to be very knowledgeable, and have given helpful advice I was seeking.

When talking about what is going on, some people are more comfortable sharing in groups, while others like one-on-one better. I have more than my fair share of paranoia, and it takes me a long time to trust someone. This has hurt me more than I like to admit, because if I don't trust someone, then I am not going to let them know what is going on with me. So my advice, for what it's worth, is to find someone or someplace, where you are comfortable talking about what is going on with you. You don't have to start out with full disclosure, but even talking about little things will help. I hope my answers helps a little B)

[Pete53]

Welcome to Hadit.

[carlie]

13first,

Welcome - I'm moving your post to claims research.

carlie

[Testvet]

13 fist first there is no one right way to handle issues like these, many vets go to groups, my uncle did this for more than 10 years, myself I have never been to a group I see the Chief of Clinic is a one on one and have since 2003, I am one of the few veterans I know that was refused admittance to the PTSD inpatient program becuase they said I was to "ill" to be admitted to the domicillary (too sick to be in a hospital, rofl) now that is a good one

we have all the medical issues covered here, many of us joined the reserves or National Guard after leaving active duty the porblem with that is you can still get activated to go back to the sandbox, I did in 1990, my war period was Vietnam I got lucky and was sent to the DMZ in Korea the only other place paying hazardous duty pay and awarding combat patches and not as dangerous as Nam.

Being around other vets that know what we went thru makes it easier to cope in life, but it doesn't make the memories go away. If after 6 months you find yourself in the middle of night terrors, hypervigilance, getting mad over little things, etc you might want to consider a vet center or even VA mental health less than 6 months is considered an adjustment period, over 6 months of symptoms is considerd PTSD and the sooner treatment is sought the better chance of getting some mitigating treatment wait 20-40 years and nothig will help you

there is a lot of info and experience here you are always welcome here Mike

[bbknor]

Welcome, This is a good place to let things out. Most of us can direct you to the right place. If you have any questions just ask.

[Berta]

"that last go in the sandbox left me never ever wanting to be any kind of highspeed or tacticool anything

ever again. hurts me to say it, but i'm done."

There are plenty of men and women here who can relate to what you said here-

In time you might have a different perspective of that service-

meantime veteran- if you have some problems that ,might be PTSD-dont hesitate to file a claim and get some help for this.

Young men and women have a unique problems with these issues that some of the Vietnam vets did not have- PTSD wasnt 'invented' until many of them had been back from Vietnam for over a decade already trying to integrate into a normal civilian life again.

My husband (Vietnam)simply thought he was nuts after the War and hoped no one would find out.

His flashbacks covered his sight like a curtain that replayed continually.

He even joined the USN after being in USMC- so he wouldnt become even more nuts (shows you right there he had PTSD)

He was able to work in some very good paying jobs, he was a Nuke-after service- but then it all got to him-

Best thing VA did for him was to diagnose him with PTSD and the next best thing was they sent him to a vet center (where he met me)he didnt even know what PTSD really was but he had it.

Worse thing he did was keep it all for years prior to that.

Once he started talking about it-the burden got a little lighter-

but even though he trusted me completely and his shrink-and the vet center vets- he never told us about the really 'horrible things'-

what I knew is horrific beyond imagination-but he still carried unspoken horror until he died.

Sharing it does however ease the burden of it all-

and the VA actually has some excellent shrinks to help with this.

You will be OK. PTSD does not mean being nuts- far from it.

Edited April 20, 2009 by Berta