Defining PTSD

It’s a two-way street, wives say

by Heidi Russell Rafferty

The United States’ 2003 invasion of Iraq transformed Army National Guard member John Adams from a landscape business owner in sunny Miramar, Fla., to a battle-weary combat vet.  Injured by a roadside bomb, John returned home eight months later.   His wife, Summer, barely recognized him.

His appearance hadn’t changed.  But John was a different person, partially due to a brain injury, but mostly due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  “When he first returned, he spent most of his time watching TV and then he would cry all of a sudden,” she recalls.  “Little by little, I worked-out that PTSD was affecting him.  I said to myself, ‘It’s not him.’  He went from a strong character to a person that was not able to withhold his fears.”

WHAT IS PTSD?

PTSD is an acute stress reaction to a traumatic event, often characterized by sleeplessness, hyper-vigilance or social withdrawal.  It differs from Combat Stress Reaction, a brief stress disorder, in the fact that it lasts longer than one month and can continue in perpetuity, say Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) psychologists Tom Shurling and Cynthia Dunn, both based at VA facilities in Lexington, Ky.

Trauma experienced by those in combat can cause extreme horror, fear and helplessness.  It can also dramatically affect their mental, emotional and physical well-being.

Does your spouse suffer from PTSD? If so, how should you, your soldier and your family cope?

TAKE IT EASY; BE VIGILANT

Go gently.  Everything you plan (like a “welcome home” bash) and anything you say (“Honey, you need a shrink!”) has to be done with great forethought, Cynthia says.  You haven’t shared your spouse’s wartime experiences, so you have no idea what he or she is feeling. Given that, don’t assume anything.

As your spouse readjusts to life at home, note personality changes and unexpected reactions to ordinary events.  Your spouse may have returned home uninjured, but that doesn’t mean he’s unaffected by PTSD.  Sandy* discovered this to be the case after she opened the garage door (located underneath the bedroom) while her husband was napping.

“He came down, and his face was as white as a sheet,” she recalls.  “He said, ‘Next time, tell me before you open the garage door like that.’  [The sound] reminded him of when they were hit by a mortar attack. 

And there were other odd occurrences, too.  One day Sandy found her husband prowling around their new home, announcing it was in a “strategic” location where they would be safe from “attack.”  Another time he cried inconsolably when asked to pray for a 19-year-old soldier at church.