Page 27 - Total War on PTSD

ministers, teachers and strangers. PTSD impacts someone you know or someone who you soon will meet.
The largest single group of Americans with PTSD — our military Veterans. No foreign enemy has ever so successfully invaded America as has PTSD. It sneaked onto every troop ship and U.S. Air Force transport plane bringing our brave warfighters home from Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. For decades, our nation’s military and political leaders made believe there was no invasion. They turned their backs on millions of Veterans whose courageous service left them tormented by the terrible invisible wounds of PTSD.
The words “Homeless Veteran,” and “Veteran who committed suicide,” tear at my heart and fill me with anger. Every single case is traceable to PTSD that was untreated or treated ineffectively. No American military Veteran should ever be homeless, and none of our people should ever feel so alone and disrespected that they eat their gun or overdose on opioids or alcohol.
Untreated PTSD can easily destroy the patient, his or her relationships with family, friends and co-workers and in rare cases, the lives of complete strangers who accidentally interact with the patient during an episode of extreme hyper-vigilance.
I’m about to share with you two stories of untreated PTSD, one institutional and the other highly personal involving a good friend who gave his country pretty much everything only to be abandoned when he needed help the most.
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