Page 135 - Total War on PTSD

medical platoon leader for 3-187 IN BN, 3rd BCT, 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) where I
deployed to East Afghanistan and received a Combat Medic Badge and two Army Commendation Medals. I then was given the position as the 3rd Brigade Combat Team- Medical Operations Officer where I was in charge of six of my peers, 212 medics and responsible for the medical readiness of over 4,500 Soldiers.
My transition back into society was one of the hardest things I have ever went through and still go through today. My story is filled with trauma and suicide (13 close friends/peers/Soldiers) because they could not find solutions to the mental health difficulties that combat Veterans face. My own solution was to drink and use pharmaceutical drugs in order to escape the realities of mental torture that I was experiencing on a daily basis. The constant feeling of loneliness and depression (which would transition into stints of adrenaline-fueled anxiety) was driving me crazy. Coming back from deployment I did not have my support system (my platoon) anymore. They were transferred to other bases or had their own lives and families to
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