PTSD Is The War Families Fight At Home

The impact of post-traumatic stress disorder extends beyond VA hospital walls, having lasting effects on life at home.



Every morning, Katie Moore gets up to feed her 1-year-old baby. The first one awake, she then prepares breakfast for her four other children, ages 10, 10, 8, and 3. This is the norm for her and her husband Jared, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who has post-traumatic stress disorder.

When he wakes up, he makes coffee — it’s a routine Jared developed serving 10 years in the Air Force as tech sergeant before he re-enlisted in the Army for four years as sergeant under the 2nd Chemical Battalion.




In order for Jared to remember what to do after drinking his coffee, Katie must leave a list of reminders in the cabinet by the coffee maker.

“He has to be reminded of daily tasks: feeding the kids or feeding himself, brushing his teeth, taking a shower, taking his medication,” she tells me.

For Katie and Jared, PTSD has been both a blessing and a curse.

According to Katie: “It’s had its times … it has impacted our marriage, but I think ultimately it has made us closer.”

While she says it was a test that made their family stronger, it took time for them to get the routine settled, and there are still bad days.

“Some days … there’s no motivation to get up or do anything, and then some days he just can’t sit still,” Katie says. “Nights are the hardest, and they’re the worst.”

Jared sometimes experiences nighttime “episodes” brought on by various outside triggers, like war movies, fireworks, or recalling his deployments.

According to Katie, he’ll often be wrapped tightly in all the blankets and sheets from their bed, shaking, or drenched in sweat. There are occasions where she can talk him out of it, but other times, she has to let him ride it out.

While their home life is now more manageable, one of the biggest issues they face as a family is treatment availability.