Tag Archives: veterans

You’ve seen the strained look on her face.  She’s far away.  She doesn’t sleep well and sits around all day doing nothing.  She’s always tired.  You’ve invited her to the things she loves doing, but she never feels like doing them anymore.  Sometimes she yells a lot—really overreacts.  But when you ask her what’s wrong, she denies any problems.

You’re happy she is back from Iraq, but you thought it would be different.  You thought you could get back to normal.

You thought that having her home safe would make both of you happy again.  She’s not at war anymore—why is she acting this way?

Your loved one may have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Many veterans suffer from PTSD.  The Veterans Administration (VA) reports that as many as 11-20% of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have it.  Common war traumas include having been shot at, having seen someone shot or having seen death, but another cause of PTSD in veterans is military sexual trauma (MST).  According to the VA, 23% of women in the military report sexual assault.

These numbers are scary but the good news is that there is help.  There are even free clinics

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