Page 977 - Total War on PTSD

control over what was going on. I don't have as many problems as I used to because I have learned my triggers and I learned what to stay away from. We moved from Birmingham to Cullman because things are easier and quieter here. That helped me more than anything. For the longest time I wondered when things were going to go back to normal but then I realized that things weren't going to go back the way they were...and that I had to accept my new normal. I do have PTSD diagnosis. I don't see my PTSD as a weakness. It's just a part of who I am and I've learned to deal with it. I've learned about my triggers and I do what I can to enjoy my life in the best way possible.
I didn't go to the VA for care right after I got out of the military. When I left the Air Force I went to work for the U.S. Postal Service. I put in another ten years with the Postal Service. I was medically retired through the Post Office. I was starting to drink pretty heavily, and the doctor told me that was own way of self-medicating. So, the doctor I have been seeing for about the last 17 years now, he was the one who first started talking to me about my getting Service Dog. He was the one who was staying on top of all that psychiatric medicine and all that and he was reading articles about Service Dogs and said we ought to think about getting you a dog. Initially I thought he was a nut. So, my doctor checked into it and at the time I guess there weren't as many training organizations then as there are now. Regardless, he said that the waiting period could be anywhere from 18 to 24 months. I just decided, and told him "in that time, I can just train my own damn dog." Well, my doctor thought that was a good idea so that's what started all of this.
When I got Sam he was only six weeks old. When he was old enough, I started training him. I went and bought every book I could find by César Millán and anybody else who had any sense, and I started his good conduct training. Then, for the stuff I couldn't do, I found a place to take
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