Page 803 - Total War on PTSD

While I was able to exit the military and smoothly transition to civilian life, many noble service members don't have it so easy. Many of them have experienced terrible things during wartime and have developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
I think it is extremely important to seek mental health assistance if a service member is experiencing trouble with PTSD. The stigma surrounding mental health needs to be eliminated so that service members can feel comfortable seeking the help they need. No one should feel like PTSD is a weakness. The human mind was not created to witness the horrors of war. We, as a civilized society, do not have the natural coping mechanisms to inherently deal with wartime atrocities. Therefore, it is completely natural to be overwhelmed by PTSD. I have known people inside and outside of the military who have had to deal with PTSD and I know it can raise its ugly head in a number of different ways. One of my friends drank copious amounts of alcohol in an effort to block out the terrible images in his head. Another friend tried to feel the rush that combat Veterans often feel in wartime, and would drive his car 100+ mph just to feel some of that rush again. He ended up crashing his car and was very lucky to walk away. To my knowledge, neither one of them sought help for their PTSD.
I look at it like this: if you broke your leg, everyone around you would be panicking and would be yelling at you to get help from a doctor. It's not something you can fix yourself or should suffer with and everyone around you understands that. There's not much difference with mental health. There's something that isn't quite right in your mind and you need help from a doctor to “fix it.” It's not something you can fix yourself or should suffer with.
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