Area veterans coping with posttraumatic stress disorder

[babylonsister]

http://www.dailypress.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=11168

Area veterans coping with posttraumatic stress disorder

Vietnam veteran Robert Stade spends time with fellow vets at the American Legion in Gladstone recently. During an interview, Stade talked about coping with posttraumatic stress disorder for the last 30 years.

By Julie Knauf - [e-mail]

GLADSTONE — Robert Stade, 59, Gladstone, says he is working hard to get his life together. After decades of living with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the Vietnam veteran has sought help for his symptoms and encourages other people do the same.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may cause PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents or military combat. Veterans, like Stade, have struggled with the disorder for years — previously regarded as “soldier’s heart,” “shell shock” and “battle fatigue.”

“We’ve had PTSD around for a long time, especially in war veterans,” said Pamela Balentine, Ph.D. of Gray Matters counseling in Escanaba. Balentine has counseled several veterans with the disorder. Symptoms, she said, are both physical and psychological and include severe panic attacks, anxiety, nightmares, flashbacks (recurrent and vivid recollection of a traumatic experience, sometimes with hallucinations) and avoidance of particular people, places, smells, sounds or objects that trigger flashbacks. “The spectrum (of PTSD) is wide, from minor annoyance to completely debilitating,” she said.

“PTSD screwed up my whole damn life,” said Stade. At 19, he served as a M-60 machine gunner in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). “It was pretty gruesome,” he said. “You see all this stuff and it makes you lose a part of yourself. It took a part of my soul that I’ll never get back.”

Following a 12 month tour in Vietnam, Stade returned home, angry and emotional. He fell into a deep depression and suffered from low self-esteem. At night, he was plagued by nightmares; during the day, certain sounds and smells would cause horrific flashbacks.

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[madokie]

1. I've been living with ptsd since

only realized it as of lately. Too damn old to worry about it now I guess

[BikeWriter]

2. It's not ever too late, Brother. Get thee to a VA PTSD meeting...

Oh, and thank you for your service and welcome home! :patriot:

[windbreeze]

3. Welcome home, soldier...and Thanks for serving....

when the guys came home from VietNam...the medics didn't recognize PTSD as a crippling disease...how do I know...??? because my husband came home suffering from it..when he went to Nam he was a laid back, quiet, easygoing, wonderful person...the war destroyed him...

This is why I tell every soldier I come across...Welcome home...and Thank you for serving...because those of us who didn't go...just don't understand...there is no possible way we can..and it saddens me to think about all of our men/women in Iraq now, and how they and their families will also be affected...
windbreeze