{"id":2564,"date":"2010-08-05T17:35:46","date_gmt":"2010-08-05T23:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/?page_id=2564"},"modified":"2010-08-06T16:43:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-06T22:43:00","slug":"symptoms-of-combat-stress","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/?page_id=2564","title":{"rendered":"Symptoms of Combat Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

No shit here\u2026be honest!<\/h2>\n

So here we go! \u201cWhy do I have Combat Trauma, otherwise known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?\u201d you ask. Well maybe it was the planets, fate, karma, Murphy, or any other excuse you\u2019d care to make, but the fact is, \u201cYou\u2019ve Got it\u201d . And it\u2019s gonna stick with you like a tick on a dog. Like it or not, you are damn well gonna have to deal with it now, or deal with it later. I recommend now.<\/p>\n

Alright then, my fine Youngins, let\u2019s look at what may have caused a round to jam in your chamber. As you go through the list, see if any of these hit the \u201cbull\u2019s eye\u201d, and you don\u2019t have to say a word to anyone (unless you need to read out loud like Marines). This will be your own little secret for now; you can say \u201cHoly shit!\u201d in silence.<\/p>\n

Do any of the following fit you?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. You have been through a traumatic, \u201clife and death\u201d experience, maybe a lot of them.<\/li>\n
  2. You may be feeling \u201cNo one understands me\u201d. That may be true unless you talk to the right people.<\/li>\n
  3. You are in \u201cpain\u201d, mentally, physically, or both, and you don\u2019t know why.<\/li>\n
  4. You are suffering with the emotional waves of \u201cLoss\u201d.<\/li>\n
  5. You are feeling \u201chelpless\u201d in getting a grip on the waves of emotions flooding your thoughts.<\/li>\n
  6. You may be feeling \u201csurvivor guilt\u201d, because you are still alive, and your friends are not.<\/li>\n
  7. You may be feeling \u201cguilt\u201d over the things you\u2019ve done and don\u2019t know who or what to blame.<\/li>\n
  8. Nothing \u201cseems the same\u201d to you anymore. Everything that was once familiar, comfortable and normal is now different and uncomfortable.<\/li>\n
  9. Nothing feels important, not family, friends, work, or your life.<\/li>\n
  10. You are not sleeping much, and having nightmares when you do.<\/li>\n
  11. You are having \u201cflashbacks\u201d from your traumatic experiences.<\/li>\n
  12. You want to return to the war, to your unit and friends and don\u2019t really know why.<\/li>\n
  13. You now have a violent temper. You get pissed off over every little thing, and want to lash out at everyone all the time.<\/li>\n
  14. You may want to kill everyone who pisses you off. Everyone is an asshole.<\/li>\n
  15. Your guard is always up, and you can\u2019t trust anyone anymore.<\/li>\n
  16. You can\u2019t seem to find any real friends to \u201ctrust\u201d.<\/li>\n
  17. You can\u2019t relax around people, and can\u2019t stand crowds.<\/li>\n
  18. You can\u2019t go into public places and not be on full alert, checking for the enemy.<\/li>\n
  19. You\u2019ve turned to drugs and or alcohol to kill the pain in your head and body.<\/li>\n
  20. You\u2019ve lost what self-esteem you once had, and don\u2019t think you\u2019re worth squat shit.<\/li>\n
  21. You can\u2019t make plans for tomorrow because the present is so miserable.<\/li>\n
  22. No one wants to be around you anymore, not family or friends. You\u2019ve become angry, hateful, critical, and negative about everyone and everything.<\/li>\n
  23. You may be thinking of suicide as a way to escape, and have become reckless with your life and the lives of others.<\/li>\n
  24. You feel like no one gives a shit about you anymore, and don\u2019t have a clue why.<\/li>\n
  25. You find it more comfortable on base than around civilians, or you just want to be alone all the time. The 1000 yard stare has become your pastime activity.<\/li>\n
  26. And generally, you\u2019re up to your neck in shit, and nobody\u2019s throwing you a line.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Well, my fine troubled friends, no matter how many of these nasty little items have struck a chord in your brain-housing-group, it\u2019s not hopeless, and \u201cI AM\u201d throwin\u2019 you a rescue line. So rest assured. And you may still smell like shit for awhile after you get pulled out, but don\u2019t sweat it, you\u2019ll meet others that smell the same way. Once you shower up, you can rub a little deodorant on your ass, and no one will know the difference.<\/p>\n

    This is just an Old Marine\u2019s way of saying \u201dYou Are Not Alone\u201c. There are ways to get through all this, and \u201cYOU WILL\u201d improvise, overcome and adapt! The choice is yours. And after a good bit of work, you\u2019ll be able to plan your custom-tailored<\/strong> life, and enjoy the hell out of it.<\/p>\n

    So then, just \u201cWhy\u201d you have a post traumatic stress disorder doesn\u2019t really matter. That you \u201cdo\u201d have it, does. Deal with it in a constructive way.<\/p>\n

    Now, if you need help, see the \u201cNeed Help Right Now<\/a>\u201d page. Call Pete Comstock at the Military Order of the Purple Heart or call me\u2026the choice of getting your shit together is yours. Don\u2019t screw the pooch!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    No shit here\u2026be honest! So here we go! \u201cWhy do I have Combat Trauma, otherwise known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?\u201d you ask. Well maybe it was the planets, fate, karma, Murphy, or any other excuse you\u2019d care to make, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"parent":2550,"menu_order":30,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2564","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2564"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2703,"href":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2564\/revisions\/2703"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sgtbrandi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}