After being diagnosed with PTSD and beginning treatment, writing became therapeutic for me. My Facebook page is to be part of this journey and the writing of the book, and the struggles that are faced while writing and being treated. I have been getting treatment for PTSD since September 2014. After almost 11 years of hiding from problems with PTSD, avoiding situations that could make me uncomfortable, and being emotionally distant; it was time to get help. After seeing a psychiatrist and with medication beginning to help some, she suggested a psychologist. One of the first things he recommended was “journaling” a method of putting on paper experiences and feelings that I had.

Once I began writing, it became more and more therapeutic for me. I wrote more and more back stories about what lead me to this point in my life, events that transpired, and things that explained how I felt about different situations. After reading them, my wife learned more about me than I had ever been able to share before. She suggested I make it a book. I have outlined more than I have written but have around 8,000 words on paper as of now. I never recognized how big of a help writing could be, even though while I was deployed, I wrote letters to my baby who I left behind at 2 months old.
I am still in the struggle though with some really bad days. But there are more and more covered by good days. I no longer let PTSD define me, but rather just a part of me that I am learning to learn to cope with. Reaching out to others has been the best decision that I have ever made and has been a tremendous impact in my recovery. Hopefully it will help others in their struggles.

This morning I was reminded of that through a message from a friend. Someone who has been battling their own battle for years, worried of how others looked at them, wondering if people thought they were “rude” when they stepped away. We spent a lot of time together. I called her because I knew she also had PTSD, and I was at the end of my rope, at the bottom and feeling all alone and hurting. She made me feel better, and not so lonely and shared how the very things I was going through, she went through too. I was a little lifted up when we hung up. This made me feel not alone for the first time in many ways. Sometimes God rewards us by putting the right people in the right place at the right time… Remember to give people the benefit of doubt, as you never know the struggles they face, the day they’ve had, or if you could be the one person that can impact them for the good or bad.

My service and the struggles that I face do not define me or who I am, and I pray that it will somehow help others.