ptsd Triggers - Should I Seek Help?

[SeekingAdvice247]

Well, I have been reading this forum now for about a week while I have been doing research into why I act more agressively than normal and sometimes feel quite depressed and disconnected from the world. When I had talked to a Chaplain he had said that I might have something called PTSD and should talk to him about it more. So I started to do research.

Overall, I have had childhood trauma (Beatings, Some things I cant remember, and 9/11 Happening when I was younger and loosing a friend and his father to this).

I have also had military trauma (I believe) due to my job. Some trauma I cant talk about but I go in and out of combat areas, bring wounded and sadly deceased soldiers back home and have nightmares about it constantly. I dream of talking to the soldiers I have hauled, and also people loosing their lives while we are on the way back to a base hospital or even coming back from the dead and talking to me and no one notices aside from myself. Some of the triggers to this are seeing the events of 9/11 on the TV or media, and also seeing videos or videogames of ground war.

My main concern is that if I seek help through the appropriate agencies in my branch of service, I will be simply dis-regarded since none of this is real combat related trauma. I have seen people talk of battles where they have lost friends, and co-workers. And even had people die in their arms, but none of this has happened to me and I cant understand why I feel the way I do. But I dont want to seek help, then simply be forgotten since I cant do my job and get no help once I get out since it might be a "Personality Disorder" or something from before I was in the military.

[carlie]

SeekingAdvice,

Personally, while I was still AD - I would seek mental health care and clearly

get this issue documented in my SMR/STR's.

Down the road the notations from the Chaplin might not be of record.

Besides that - it is in your and your family's best interest for you to receive

some medical treatment to help with your nightmares and such, NOW.

JMHO

[john999]

If you were going to forward bases where there had been combat injuries and you were hauling injured back to hospital and some died on the way that is enough for PTSD DX I think under new rules and maybe under old rules. I went to some small hamlets in Nam when I was killing time as in Civic Action squad at LTN and I saw bodies of dead VC laid out due to fire fight previous night.......... mission cancelled for the day. I thought we would never make it back to the main hyw and Captain called base and got some gunships to fly around overhead. I was feeling fine until I saw those dead VC and interpreter told us "big fight last night, many VC, they try and blow up school you helping to build."

[SeekingAdvice247]

Thanks everyone for the advice, it is appreciated.