Another soldier commented:
I saw a lot of combat. Our unit took casualties in Najaf and Fallujah. I don’t have to talk about it when I am around my guys, and I don’t know how to talk about it when I am around friends from back home. I don’t know if I have PTSD or not. When I am around my guys I feel fine; when I am around my family or friends they just don’t understand. I can’t relate to them. I struggle even to want to relate to them.
There is a saying that PTSD (now referred to as PTSS or Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome), goes away when the victim is around other vets. Do soldiers stop suffering from PTSS around comrades or is it that the events are more understood and the stress reduced when they are with those who share the experience?
It is human nature to feel more comfortable around those who are familiar with our experience. That’s true for PTSS regardless of whether it’s from combat experience or sexual abuse. That’s why we have groups for PTSS. There is a significant comfort that comes from not having to explain yourself or why an experience was traumatic.
Let me emphasize that someone should not base a decision about whether or not to seek help on the way he or she feels or behaves around others who went through the same experience. PTSS is the way those experiences effect a soldier outside that circle of comrades and friends. It is the way it affects his or her relationships with family and friends, coworkers, and supervisors. If those relationships are suffering or if one’s ability to function in civilian life is affected by traumatic experiences then that person should seek help.
It’s not how the veteran relates to other veterans but rather how he relates to his family and his obligations once he returns home, that is the question. This is one area the veteran should lean upon family. Trust their impressions. Comrades may be unable to tell whether or not a fellow soldier’s experiences are affecting the ability to function. A soldier’s family however, knows their loved one. Family members can more easily detect dysfunction and adjustment stress.
Please bring your healing to my loved one or friend or fellow church member who is suffering from PTSS. May he/she receive the professional and personal support that is needed.
“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” (3 John:2)