Posted on Jun 28, 2024
Learning to Breathe Through the Journey of Addiction and PTSD
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Posted in these groups: 
PTSD
PTSD
Posted 5 mo ago
Responses: 2
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I won't say much about this. She's lucky she didn't end up in prison like alot of junkies do.
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PO3 Edward Riddle
LTC Trent Klug - I didn't say every case of PTSD would turn to drugs or alcohol. If you read what I posted, you would see that I used the term "a lot of". How did you deal with yours?
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LTC Trent Klug
PO3 Edward Riddle I threw myself into work and spent a great deal of time alone in the outdoors. I took jobs where I only had to interact with others when I needed to. Those jobs were regimented in many ways but I still had autonomy too.
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LTC Trent Klug
PO3 Edward Riddle My apologies for not asking. my last response. I forget the civility part often when in discussions. It's my Sheldon Cooperism showing. How did you handle yours?
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PO3 Edward Riddle
LTC Trent Klug - I handled mine with drugs and alcohol, until they quit working for me. So, I sobered up and then the demons really came alive. I did a lot of one on one with a counselor, who happened to be a U.S. Navy Seal, that served in the same part of Viet Nam as I did, at the same also. He could have even rode on my River Boat, for insertions or extractions. We talked about everything that was a problem for me and he gave me a new pair of glasses, a different way of seeing things, and I worked through all the shit that had been pestering me. As you know, the memories don't completely go away, it's how I respond today. Having sobered up and going to a lot of AA meetings, I was introduced to a Higher Power who I call God, who is still with me today, to help me get through the rough patches.
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Been there, done all that and probably could have wrote the book. Fending off the PTSD with drugs and alcohol for me was a mess. When I tried to clean up at first back in 1973, PTSD was not in the VA's vocabulary and all they were treating me for was being a Poly Drug user because I would take any kind of drug was offered to me. I really hated myself from the PTSD. And then in 1984 a program opened up at Menlo Park, Ca. simply called the Viet Nam Vets program, where they attempted to help me. I just wasn't ready for it. I had more drinking and drugging to do. It wasn't until 1990 that I finally put everything down. At first it was hard because then all the demons from Viet Nam started attacking my mind until I hooked up with a fellow Viet Nam Vet, who happened to be a U.S. Navy SEAL, that was at the same place I was in Nam, at the same time I was and could have even rode on my Boat. We would talk about things, what I had done and what I had witnessed, and eventually I got all right with ME. And here I am, 34 years later and I'm still clean and sober. YAY!!!
PS Our friendship continues to this day. For a long while, I would go over to his house to watch a movie, of which I never watched a movie anywhere else. He's wheelchair bound now, and I was his only entertainment , although we are constantly on the phone now with each other.
PS Our friendship continues to this day. For a long while, I would go over to his house to watch a movie, of which I never watched a movie anywhere else. He's wheelchair bound now, and I was his only entertainment , although we are constantly on the phone now with each other.
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MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.
Remarkable how things work out. I first learned about PTSD when I was teaching at USMA and I cussed out an insubordinate female plebe and suddenly found myself facing the possibility of a court-martial. In the end, I got a desk-drawer letter of reprimand from a 3-Star and required to see the academy shrink for evaluation before I could go back to teaching. He said there was nothing wrong with me other than the anger issues that arise from PTSD. I said, "Huh? WTF?!?" He explained it to me and it made sense. I went back to teaching the following year and got the Dept. Outstanding Instructor Award and then retired . . .
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PO3 Edward Riddle
MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. - Good for you Brother Dale. It definitely comes up out of nowhere. I was drunk and got arrested for shooting an inhabited dwelling. The charges were dropped because nobody saw who did it and they never found the gun. I'm not saying I did it, but damn. I was facing 5 to life. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder!!! These new guys don't like the "Disorder" word, so they just drop it. PTS. It's still a Disorder though.
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