Hey guys,
I've got a relatively new (6 months or so) neighbor, who I spent a considerable amount of time talking with today. He'd been gone for at least the last 3 weeks or so, and this is the second time he's done this in the last couple months. He really opened up today, and he is going thru a very rough patch. His PTSD was not present until about 5 years ago, when it came outta left field.
He enlisted in the Army at 19, and after comm school, was sent over to Desert Storm. He did 4 tours over there, and went thru some major crap (best friend shot/killed beside him, having to engage women, kids, etc). He's got major PTSD issues, and is on a ton of high octane meds (which arent working, and if they are working, holy cow, id hate to see him fully off them). He goes "camping" at their other property to try to get away from his family, and to try to deal with stuff (rather unsuccessfully). When he is home, he often locks himself in the bedroom for long periods of time. He self admitted to a facility back in march to try to deal with "very sucidal thoughts". He feels guilty for the stuff he did overseas, as well as feeling guilty for collecting social sec disability/mil disability benefits. He said he feels that he is destined to go to hell for what he did over there, even though he has asked God for forgiveness. He is unable to have a "normal" job, given his symptoms. Up until his PTSD kicked in, he said he was a very successful employee and business owner.
He said he has nightmares, where he is touching noses with those he "engaged", and has to withdraw from his family. He said he had pushed away from all of his previous friends (they moved about 60 miles away from where they used to live). His wife tries to help, but has no clue how to help. He's got several kids in the house, and he doesnt know how not to be the superman they think he is. When he is home, he often is either locked in the bedroom, staring at the wall, or sitting in his SUV. He can still smell the gun oil, can still hear the sounds, etc.
He sees a therapist (who he feels is somewhat helpful), a psychiatrist, and a general dr. He's currently been perscribed neurontin, clonipan, as well as two other drugs for mental symptoms, and some blood pressure meds for HBP. He has not gone to the local VA Hosp, nor sought out VA assistance(confidence is low with him toward the VA). He had been going to a church that had a veterans group, and said he did get some benefit from that. His therapist is going to get him engaged with a combat therapist in Jan, and his wife has made an apt with his regular dr next week.
I can tell that his meds put him on one hell of a roller coaster. The swings from manic to depressed as very frequent(several during our 90 min conv). Lots of irrational thoughts, very short attention span toward a subject, as well as trying to bestow gifts upon me just for listening (none of which i would take). He buys things to try to fill the void (RC stuff mainly). He said giving things away helps him feel happy (which I would assume would be dopamine reaction compounded by the meds) I listened to him for almost 2 hours this afternoon, and really want to try to get him some good assistance. I suggested that he try to find a local PTSD support group, or another church based vets group, as well as review his meds with his Dr's to see if they are potentially counteracting each other (have some experience with the psychiatric side effects of neruontin, and he presents very similar symptoms). He said he doesnt stay on his meds, which has its own roller coaster effects.
Obviously, I'm not a vet, much less one with combat experience, so I will never fully relate to what he went through. I made sure I mentioned that several times, so he wouldnt think I was belittling his experiences. I tend to be a good listener, and have done a bunch of psych type courses through work. Obviously nothing to prepare me for this level of help. I dont want to send him down the wrong path, and make his situation worse.
So, long story short, what resources out there are proven to be helpful for PTSD assistance? We have a relatively new VA Hosp in Kernersville, NC, with mixed reviews. He said he's got great insurance coverage, so I encouraged him to put that to good use.
I dont want this guy to end up as one of the 33 vets a day that resort to suicide, as well as endanger his family (or neighbors)....
Thanks for any info you can provide.
I've got a relatively new (6 months or so) neighbor, who I spent a considerable amount of time talking with today. He'd been gone for at least the last 3 weeks or so, and this is the second time he's done this in the last couple months. He really opened up today, and he is going thru a very rough patch. His PTSD was not present until about 5 years ago, when it came outta left field.
He enlisted in the Army at 19, and after comm school, was sent over to Desert Storm. He did 4 tours over there, and went thru some major crap (best friend shot/killed beside him, having to engage women, kids, etc). He's got major PTSD issues, and is on a ton of high octane meds (which arent working, and if they are working, holy cow, id hate to see him fully off them). He goes "camping" at their other property to try to get away from his family, and to try to deal with stuff (rather unsuccessfully). When he is home, he often locks himself in the bedroom for long periods of time. He self admitted to a facility back in march to try to deal with "very sucidal thoughts". He feels guilty for the stuff he did overseas, as well as feeling guilty for collecting social sec disability/mil disability benefits. He said he feels that he is destined to go to hell for what he did over there, even though he has asked God for forgiveness. He is unable to have a "normal" job, given his symptoms. Up until his PTSD kicked in, he said he was a very successful employee and business owner.
He said he has nightmares, where he is touching noses with those he "engaged", and has to withdraw from his family. He said he had pushed away from all of his previous friends (they moved about 60 miles away from where they used to live). His wife tries to help, but has no clue how to help. He's got several kids in the house, and he doesnt know how not to be the superman they think he is. When he is home, he often is either locked in the bedroom, staring at the wall, or sitting in his SUV. He can still smell the gun oil, can still hear the sounds, etc.
He sees a therapist (who he feels is somewhat helpful), a psychiatrist, and a general dr. He's currently been perscribed neurontin, clonipan, as well as two other drugs for mental symptoms, and some blood pressure meds for HBP. He has not gone to the local VA Hosp, nor sought out VA assistance(confidence is low with him toward the VA). He had been going to a church that had a veterans group, and said he did get some benefit from that. His therapist is going to get him engaged with a combat therapist in Jan, and his wife has made an apt with his regular dr next week.
I can tell that his meds put him on one hell of a roller coaster. The swings from manic to depressed as very frequent(several during our 90 min conv). Lots of irrational thoughts, very short attention span toward a subject, as well as trying to bestow gifts upon me just for listening (none of which i would take). He buys things to try to fill the void (RC stuff mainly). He said giving things away helps him feel happy (which I would assume would be dopamine reaction compounded by the meds) I listened to him for almost 2 hours this afternoon, and really want to try to get him some good assistance. I suggested that he try to find a local PTSD support group, or another church based vets group, as well as review his meds with his Dr's to see if they are potentially counteracting each other (have some experience with the psychiatric side effects of neruontin, and he presents very similar symptoms). He said he doesnt stay on his meds, which has its own roller coaster effects.
Obviously, I'm not a vet, much less one with combat experience, so I will never fully relate to what he went through. I made sure I mentioned that several times, so he wouldnt think I was belittling his experiences. I tend to be a good listener, and have done a bunch of psych type courses through work. Obviously nothing to prepare me for this level of help. I dont want to send him down the wrong path, and make his situation worse.
So, long story short, what resources out there are proven to be helpful for PTSD assistance? We have a relatively new VA Hosp in Kernersville, NC, with mixed reviews. He said he's got great insurance coverage, so I encouraged him to put that to good use.
I dont want this guy to end up as one of the 33 vets a day that resort to suicide, as well as endanger his family (or neighbors)....
Thanks for any info you can provide.
