trauma

I'm going to write about this a lot more in the future, but I'm still putting together how I want to approach it. However, I keep reading about PTSD, with many different triggers, and I also keep reading about how people think it's an excuse and an easy thing to fake.

I feel compelled to say that it is a real thing and it is something that progresses and intensifies and destroys both the person it is afflicting and everyone around them. Basically what happens is, any even slightly negative aspect of that person is greatly intensified, along with the onset of social paranoia and reclusiveness. So a really fun, nice, outgoing person becomes pretty negative and doesn't come out much, if at all. A person who is kind of a dick, but is still an all right person becomes a downright miserable, angry asshole. Being less than a degree away from this transformation and the aftermath is nothing short of complete torture.

It is possible to treat and with the help of treatments like EMDR - which is a groundbreaking and intense therapy - it is possible to get better and defeat it. I have now known several people who have gone through this, and after suffering a relationship that ultimately disassembled my life, it pains me to hear people diminish what those who have to deal with PTSD go through.

I do strongly feel however, that it is each person's responsibility to get help and go through treatment with a mind to aggressive recovery. Otherwise, those who are supportive to the process get abused and wrung out.

So here's the point of this: chances are that a disproportionate number of our service members have some form of PTSD. They need help and we need to help them, instead of judging them so harshly. Additionally, there are many, many members of society walking around with this same problem and with the same symptoms. If they claim it, look for the symptoms to back up the claim without judging the person and then help them. And if you happen to be someone who is close to the person who is suffering PTSD, gird yourself and know when to stick up for yourself and when to hit the road and walk away from both the afflicted and a situation you cannot fix.