Veterans Claim Help

I am sorry to post a vanity. But FR has some of the greatest people on this planet, and we have many Veterans here.

I have been battling depression ever since I got injured in Iraq. My can do's went to can nots. My injuries were broken knee, hip injured left knee, left shin, both hands,lower back and loss of consctiousness(sp?). I had been dealing well with it and the VA had prescribed me Paxil which only made me feel worse so I stopped taking it, per Doctors instructions.

Last week on Thursday I had a total meltdown mentally, I had a switch in my mind that flipped. I had not slept for 4 days, did not eat I paniced over every little thing. I turned my girlfriend away from me, who I cared deeply for. I went from thoughts of suicide to wanted to hurt others or destroy objects to extreme feelings of elation and boundless energy. ANd I couldnt concentrate at all.My Psychologist I saw earlier this week suggested bi-polar disorder, but that is genetic and tends to start occuring during teenage years. She asked me what triggered it, and honestly at the time I couldnt tell her what had in fact triggered this. Until today. I realized it was due to a near car accident I had a couple of wednesdays ago. After that day I have been totally scared to drive and been having nightmares of my accident in Iraq and some of the dead I had seen.

I ask first for prayers for me while I go through this trying time in my life. Secondly if any vets out there who have PTSD. WHat is the process like getting diagnosed with it, and what should I do for claims, its been almost two years since I got released from the army. And I am also afraid of hospitalization.

I love you.

You are a hero.

I am crying with you.

Please be strong. You can get through this. Depression is a horrid thing. It is a monster. Do not let the monster win (just think of it as the left). Please, please let me know if there is anything I can do.

Have you tried talking to other vets at the VA? People who have actually gone through similar stuff? It can be theraputic for both of you.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service. And if I could take your pain upon myself I would do it. I mean it.

Remember the left are a bunch of weenies who will gladly use the freedoms you protect, but if asked to protect those freedoms themselves, will run and stand behind you even as they villify you. They feel guilty for having been born in this country which is a disservice to their ancestors who made the decision to come to this, the greatest country in the world, to give themselves and their descendents better futures.

Also, kitty belly is a good drug, much better than the manufactured kind.

I am so sorry. I know how black it can be. I know how heavy. Please let me know if you need anything. No matter how alone you feel. How isolated the monster makes you. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

I will pray for you, FRiend. I will hold you in God's light and ask Him to work His wonders. We have only the smallest idea of who He is and what He can do. Brothers and sisters, let's enlarge that idea now in behalf of "aft_lizard." May the hand of Jesus be upon you, brother, to steady you on your path. Lean on Him and listen for the Holy Spirit. May the peace of the Lord be with you.

Even those of us who have not been in the service have been through PTSD, panic disorder and those kinds of things and we have come through. You will come through. None of the bad things that happened were your fault.

Find and listen to music that speaks to and soothes your soul. Talk to God. Consider what your FRiends here have advised, as well as the doctors, and choose what feels best to you. We're all in this together.

I thank you for being our defender. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Some people like my husband saw horrific things in Nam and handled them well, others like my brother didn't. There is help in the VA system. It took my brother a LONG time to finally seek it. He only recently just did. I believe he's been receiving counseling and tx. now for the past 4 months or so he's been willing to trust the system. You see back in 1982 they told him there was nothing wrong with him that just getting off his dead behind wouldn't cure. Now they know about PTSD. Now they are treating him. But look at all these years that were lost.... He served in Nam in 1968.

Read our profile. Then please,.. don't wait as long as he did. The claim won't get you your life back, but turning things around will. (To file the claim go to your country VA office. I had wonderful treatment from mine. Or you can start with Disabled Vets of America (DVA). They will advocate for you too. They guide you through the WHOLE process.

They've come a LONG way with PTSD. The massacres guys like my husband and brother witnessed were hard images to swallow or forget. You'll never forget them. But you can get where you don't let them rule your life with the help of others. One person (my husband)handled it one way.It didn't destroy him. The other, my brother, felt guilt because he didn't die, and it just affected his psychic a different way. All these years later.. my brother is still suffering. Don't let that happen to you.

Go to the VA and get help. My brother said he's feeling better and he wished they'd helped him like this all those years ago.

During and after Nam they didn't have a name for it or understand it. Now they know a lot more. Just knowing what is wrong is a step in the right direction.

So many people have been helped and gotten their lives back. The sooner you start working on this, the quicker you'll have yours back too.

BTW, Thank you for your service. Your brothers and sisters who served before you care about you and wish you well. Your strong and you can get through this.

Remember, if you don't get well, then the enemy got you. He won. Don't let him do that. Fight hard to get your life back. Do it for those you saw die. They'd want you to be ok. You know they would.

Those here at home who love you don't deserve to have you take this out on them either.

I'm sick from my time in the service. I make sure that on bad days, I don't take it out on those around me. A support group will be important to you so you can talk to someone else whose been through this. But it isn't fair to make those who can't possibly understand what you went through, feel mixed up and helpless when they don't know what to do to help you. They've done nothing but support you. Please don't take it out on them. I've seen so many people with PTSD do just that. Don't do it!

I'll keep you in my prayers that you will get right in to VA and get the help you need. The fact that you posted on FR means you're crying out for help with this. That's an important first step. I wish my brother could have posted on the Internet back then. So go for it my friend.

It's going to be ok.. just don't let em' win, K? You CAN get through this. It won't be instantaneous.. but you CAN get through this. Everything you saw will become more and more of a distant memory.

Thanks again for your service.

God Bless! VH&W

PS. Neither of us get to come here much anymore because we are raising our grandson now. FReepmail us and let us know how you are doing sometime. I have a personal interest considering what my brother has gone through. We'd never see a ping. You'll be in our prayers.

You posted

"Be very leery of PTSD claimants! That is a scam perfected by VietNam vets"

If you are a Combat Veteran and if you have used the VA system you obviously have blinders on. Your comment above is the type of comment that still haunts those of us who proudly answered the call to serve, and insults the more than 58,000 whose names are on the WALL.

The continuing false perceptions and stigmas placed on Veterans of all Wars, and in particular of Vietnam is a scar on this nation and a burden on the Veterans concerned.

Do some research and I will guarantee you that you will find per capita that more "false" PTSD claims came out of Desert Storm than came out of Vietnam. Should that stain the Veterans of Desert Storm? Authorities are stating that the number of Veterans who WILL be afflicted with PTSD from Iraqi Freedom will be higher per capita than those from Vietnam. Does this mean that the current servicemen and women should be burdened further thru out their lives by future generations making the same comments about them that you make of us?

I am appalled personally at your comment, I am saddened and angered.

You owe this forum and Vietnam Veterans and their families an apology at the very least. You owe it to the uniform you wore to speak truths, and truths only, and to honor ALL Veterans of ALL wars.

Along with the advice of many others here about getting a VSO, it is also most important to follow the rules. Do exactly what they tell you and when. And DO NOT GIVE UP! The system has time on it's side. They will wait you out if you let them, and if you die before you get what you have earned they have won. It took me 30 years. I quit several times, I just gave up. That is why it took so long. That and I fought them with anger and vengeance in my heart. But it is not the VA that makes the rules. Congress does, the VA just has to carry them out. And they do so in underfunded and understaffed facilities.

Do your best to get into a PTSD group at your local VA. It will help you more than you can possibly understand at this point in your life.

Try to get individual therapy, and stay as far away from meds as you can. Many will tend to over medicate you. It may be euphoric for awhile, but it only helps for a little while.

The demons that bother you must be talked about. Many times we do not know exactly what it is that is the root of our problem. We may think we do, but the mind has a way of hiding things deep in our subconscious. And that most often is where the demon hides and strikes from. You have to talk about things, in detail, no matter how hard it is, you have to get it out.

That won't cure you. If you have PTSD, you have had chemical changes take place in your brain. They can never be reversed to back to where they were before. But, you can learn to live with it.

Small steps at a time, and never stop taking the steps.

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