How have you dealt with PTSD?

Group therapy, gardening (seeing new life grow), talk talk talk talk it out, medication, PRAYER!........and no more drinking.

Had a bad case of anxiety 10+ years ago after leaving active duty. Really revolved around public areas... Especially malls.

went to the va once, they gave me some Xanax and sent me on my way. Hated the way it made me feel and after two pills I tossed it in the garbage.

So then I thought... If I force myself into the things that I hate, I should get numb to it. So I took all the public speaking classes I could, and sat down in malls on weekends, and took on shitty Sales jobs. Just to expose myself to anxiety inducing situations as much as possible. No shit. And that exposure worked! It eventually went away.

I wouldn't recommend it as a method, it sucked. Literally would go to the bathroom to have an anxiety attack and leave when it was done. Did that for 4 years until it was gone and I felt normal in crowds.

I remember when I was in a dark place full of depression, racing thoughts, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and a pit in my stomach, and wanting to not exist because of the pain. I needed a toehold for recovery, and I will tell you what I did.

I had chaptered a few soldiers from the Army for misconduct, but I had this unmitigating compulsion not to send a broken ex soldier into society. I ordered all of them to go to the mirror every day and say good things about themselves and gratitude for everything and everyone in their lives.

This was the toehold they needed to break the cycle of negative thoughts and improve so they can see the beauty life unfolds before them. They said goodbye and I was pleased they did not have broken spirits. After a year I remembered this method and it gave me an opportunity to improve. This is not the answer but just a first stage of recovery.

I retired in 2008, almost 31 years. Because I never saw combat, I don't know what it's like to experience the horrors.
Because I never deployed I have been
ridiculed and judged badly by some who have been deployed and experienced the horrors in combat.
I enlisted in 1977, basic training in 1978. I was in the National Guard for 3 years as a 'weekend warrior' a phrase I detest to this day.
I was select to be on AGR and remained on active duty for the next 27 years.
I was in when females had few rights. The EEO wasn't created yet. A lot of my earlier experiences were being taken advantage of by older, higher ranking male soldiers. I was barely 18, fresh off the farm.
As the years progressed there was more of the same. Females were labled harassed if they filed a complaint. Granted, there were women who abused it...and filed frivolous complaints.....gave the rest of us a bad name. I was a victim of sexual assault. I was afraid to report it. He was superior officer. His word against mine. I had to transfer to another section to get away from him only to volunteer to go to Iraq with a boys club!!!
I put up with so much harassment from some higher ranking bosses because I wanted to fit in. I wasn't a prude, but I could have caused much trouble if I'd had a mind to do so.
I felt like I lost myself somewhere. I volunteered to deploy in 2007. I was continually harrassed by my male supervisor, the other male staff officers, even the Senior enlisted males on staff.
Every week at staff meetings, my boss ordered me to sit on his left, I was the S-1. He would reach over under the table and grab my knee, almost my thigh, just to make me jump and spaz. I always went first with my personnel brief. It would never fail that one or more of his male minions would interrupt me with some stupid ridiculing remark.
Everyday, my boss would come to my office, stand behind me at my desk, asking questions about whatever...and begin to rub my shoulders.....I had to get up from my desk and head toward the hall.
I never had the courage to tell him or others not touch me!!!
I had severe self-esteem issues, and at this point I was a mess.
After more than thirty years of working hard, going by the regs, I built a good reputation for myself.
Because of a few idiots I had the misfortune of working with or for I was diagnosed with PTSD. I was traumatized severely but I wasn't aware of it. I thought violent rape nightmares were normal.
I retired. I got help. Extensive therapy, sleep aids and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing worked great for my symptoms. My brother-in-law was a dust off pilot in Vietnam. EMDR helped him tremendously.

I have reached out to those whom suffer from PTSD. There are a few employees that I work with that have seen the suck. I don't wait, I talk with them almost every day. I offer an ear, they know that I can listen quietly.
I feel bad though. I have lost a few friends after the fact, I wish they would have talked to me before. I now try to reach out to all my Kilo Brothers and listen to any other that I see needs an ear....

I refused to talk about it at first. I thought whatever it was, I had a good hold on it and I wasn't gonna let it contol me. I was wrong. I had all these vivid nightmares, and I didn't want to sleep because I didn't want to go back. It started affecting me at work, and I guess I just came to a point where I had to talk to someone.

I was reluctant at first, knowing I was gonna end up talking to a civilian who would never know what it's like. But he was a good person, and I could tell he was genuinely concerned and not just trying to collect a check. He recorded one of our sessions, and asked me to listen to it. This tape is in my safe and I have yet to pop it into a player. But I came back for more sessions, and just talked about how I was feeling, what my fears were, and what I wanted to happen as time went on.

That was my gateway to opening up even more. I started talking to fellow veterans. I reconnected with old Battle Buddies. We talked about those events. It definitely helped.

I'm now married to the most amazing woman I've ever met. I still get nightmares every once in a while, but I share these with my wife, and I express how my nightmares make me feel. I'm more communicative, and even though I still get "attacks" when I'm upset, my wife does a really good job of calming me down.

You need to find someone you can trust, someone you can share all your fears with, someone who will listen and care for and love you for who you are. It's not always easy and it takes a lot of time, but if you've gotten this far you're strong enough to keep fighting the fight. You just need to give yourself credit for it, not sell yourself short, and not quit. And always remember there's someone out there who cares about you, no matter who you are or what your situation might be. You just have to reach out to that someone.

Meds, talking to fellow Vets, my counselor at the vet center. Also going to try horse therapy. Definitely stay away from the war movies.

My life has had its ups and downs with PTSD. I had dreams and flashbacks for a long time of my time in Iraq during the time I was there in 03. I had depression, guilt, anxiety, fear, and anger. I turned to alcohol to numb it till I met my wife and she got my mind off it for awhile but until I saw a shrink and talked about it all. But now today I'm going through a new kind of PTSD I have been diagnosed with Cancer since 06 and have been through hell with radiation and chemo. My mind has anxiety everyday and it's killing me inside and I know how to cope but the thought every week that I'm going going to another treatment that will make me horribly sick and in pain! But my kids and wife are what make me keep fighting as I did years ago. I hope you all fight for your life because as much as the past haunts you the future can be brighter and that's how I make it everyday.

I have being dealing with PTSD since the summer of 1969 in the aftermath of the siege of Ben Het. My unit was on Ben Het and as a newbie, I was placed on guard duty in a 6x6, deuce and a half, hauling ammo to Ben Het. The siege had ended for the most part, but there were sporadic incursions and ambushes of the convoys going there. As my luck would have it, we were ambushed between Dak To and Ben Het. We lost four vehicles, including quad 50s on a deuce and a half. The truck I was in was hauling 8" joes and we were hit several times by small arms fire. Thankfully no RPGs were fired at us. Some in the convoy were not so lucky. A week later, I was again assigned convoy guard duty. This time we were hit in Kontum as we waited for units to join us from MACV. A small child, a toddler, I know this because he wore no pants, walked up to a group of GIs about 50 meters from my vehicle, and dropped a grenade at his feet in the group. Four were killed, not including the baby, and several were wounded. Seventeen days in Vietnam and I already had PTSD. Been living with it for 45 years. About 4 years ago I finally started receiving VA disability for PTSD. As I age, the dreams and flash backs have returned. I take meds for them, but they are still there. I will die with them.

I simply don't know. Certain things upset me about knowing who I lost in Afghanistan. I deal with it when it happens.