PTSD in Military Veterans: Symptoms, Treatment, and Self-Help

In This Article

Are you having a hard time readjusting to life out of the military? Are you always on edge, close to panicking or exploding, or do you feel emotionally numb and disconnected? For all too many veterans, these are common symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). No matter how long the V.A. wait times, or how isolated or emotionally cut off from others you feel, it’s important to know that you’re not alone and there are plenty of things you can do to start feeling better. You can learn to deal with nightmares and flashbacks, cope with feelings of depression, anxiety or guilt, and restore your sense of control.

PTSD in veterans: What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sometimes known as shell shock or combat stress, occurs after experiencing severe trauma or a life-threatening event. It’s normal for the mind and body to be in shock after such an event, but this normal response becomes PTSD when your nervous system gets “stuck.”

Your nervous system has three ways of responding to stressful events:

• Social engagement is the most evolved strategy. Socially interacting with another person—making eye contact, listening, talking—can quickly calm you down and put the brakes on “fight-or-flight.”
• Mobilization, or the fight-or-flight response, occurs when social engagement isn’t appropriate—such as in combat—and you need to defend yourself or escape danger. Your heart pounds faster, blood pressure rises, and muscles tighten, increasing your strength and speed. Once the danger has passed, your nervous system calms your body, lowering heart rate and blood pressure, and winding back down to its normal balance.
• Immobilization occurs when you’ve experienced too much stress in a situation and, while the danger has passed, you find yourself “stuck.” Your nervous system is unable to return to its normal state of balance and you’re unable to move on from the event. This is PTSD.

Recovering from PTSD involves transitioning out of the mental and emotional war zone you’re still living in and helping your nervous system become “unstuck.”

PTSD in veterans: Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder

Symptoms sometimes don’t surface for months or even years after returning from deployment. While PTSD develops differently from veteran to veteran, there are four symptom clusters:

1. Recurrent, intrusive reminders of the traumatic event, including distressing thoughts, nightmares, and flashbacks where you feel like it’s happening again. Experiencing extreme emotional and physical reactions to reminders (panic attacks, uncontrollable shaking, heart palpitations, etc.).
2. Extreme avoidance of things that remind you of the traumatic event, including people, places, people, thoughts, or situations you associate with the bad memories. Withdrawing from friends and family and losing interest in everyday activities.
3. Negative changes in thoughts and mood, such as exaggerated negative beliefs about yourself or the world and persistent feelings of fear, guilt, or shame. Diminished ability to experience positive emotions.
4. Being on guard all the time, jumpy, and emotionally reactive, as indicated by irritability, anger, reckless behavior, difficulty sleeping, trouble concentrating, and hypervigilance.

Suicide prevention in veterans with PTSD

Suicidal thoughts and feelings are common symptoms of PTSD among military veterans. Feeling suicidal is not a character defect, and it doesn’t mean that you are crazy, weak, or flawed.

If you are thinking about taking your own life, seek help immediately. Please read Suicide Help, talk to someone you trust, or call a suicide helpline:

• In the U.S., call 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
• In the UK, call 08457 90 90 90.
• In Australia, call 13 11 14.
• Or visit IASP to find a helpline in your country.

PTSD in veterans recovery step 1: Get moving

As well as helping to burn off adrenaline, exercise can release endorphins and make you feel better. By really focusing on your body and how it feels as you exercise, you can even help your nervous system become “unstuck.”

• Exercise that is rhythmic and engages both your arms and legs—such as running, swimming, basketball, or even dancing—works well if, instead of continuing to focus on your thoughts as you exercise, you focus on how your body feels.
• Notice the sensation of your feet hitting the ground, for example, or the rhythm of your breathing, or the feeling of wind on your skin.
• Rock climbing, boxing, weight training, or martial arts can make it easier to focus on your body movements—after all, if you don’t, you could get injured.
• Try to exercise for 30 minutes or more—or if it’s easier, three 10-minute spurts of exercise per day are just as good.

The benefits of the great outdoors

Pursuing outdoor activities in nature like hiking, camping, mountain biking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and skiing can help challenge your sense of vulnerability and help you transition back into civilian life.

• Seek out local organizations that offer outdoor recreation opportunities.
• In the U.S., check out Sierra Club Military Outdoors which offers opportunities to get out into nature and get moving.

PTSD in veterans recovery step 2: Self-regulate your nervous system

When you feel agitated, anxious, or out of control, it’s important to know that you can change your arousal system and calm yourself.

• Mindful breathing. To quickly calm yourself in any situation, simply take 60 breaths, focusing your attention on each out breath.
• Sensory input. Just as loud noises, certain smells, or the feel of sand in your clothes can instantly transport you back to the combat zone, so too can sensory input quickly calm you. Everyone responds a little differently, so experiment to find what works best for you. Think back to your time on deployment: what brought you comfort at the end of the day? Perhaps it was looking at photos of your family? Or listening to a favorite song, or smelling a certain brand of soap? Or maybe petting an animal quickly makes you feel calm?
• Reconnect emotionally. By reconnecting to uncomfortable emotions without becoming overwhelmed, you can make a huge difference in your ability to manage stress, balance your moods, and take back control of your life. See our Emotional Intelligence Toolkit.

PTSD in veterans recovery step 3: Connect with others

Connecting with others face to face doesn’t have to mean a lot of talking. For any veteran with PTSD, it’s important to find someone who will listen without judging when you want to talk, or just hang out with you when you don’t. That person may be your significant other, a family member, one of your buddies from the service, or a civilian friend.

Connecting with civilians

You may feel like the civilians in your life can’t understand you since they haven’t been in the service or seen the things you have. But people don’t have to have gone through the exact same experiences to  be able to offer support. What matters is that the person you’re turning to cares about you, is a good listener, and a source of comfort.

• If you’re not ready to open up about what happened, that’s perfectly okay.
• Instead of going into a blow-by-blow account of events, you can just talk about how you feel.
• You can tell the other person what they can do to help, whether it’s just sitting with you, listening, or doing something practical.
• Remember: people who care about you welcome the opportunity to help; connecting is not a burden for them.

If connecting is difficult

No matter how close you are to the person, PTSD can mean that you still don’t feel any better after talking. If that describes you, there are ways to help the process along.

• Exercise or move. Before chatting with a friend, either exercise or move around. Jump up and down, swing your arms and legs, or just flail around. Your head will feel clearer and you’ll find it easier to connect.
• Vocal toning. As strange as it sounds, vocal toning is a great way to open up to social engagement. Sit straight and simply make “mmmm” sounds. Change the pitch and volume until you experience a pleasant vibration in your face.
• Volunteering your time or reaching out to someone in need is a great way to connect to others and reclaim your sense of power. Joining a PTSD support group or connecting with other veterans can also help you feel less isolated.

PTSD in veterans recovery step 4: Take care of your body

Without the rush of still being in a combat zone, you may feel strange or even dead inside and find it difficult to relax. Many veterans are drawn to things that offer a familiar adrenaline rush, whether it’s caffeine, drugs, violent video games, driving recklessly, or daredevil sports. However, the symptoms of PTSD can be hard on your body and mind so it’s important to put a priority on sleep, healthy food, and calming activities.

Healthy habits for veterans with PTSD

• Take time to relax with relaxation techniques such as massage, meditation, or yoga.
• Avoid alcohol and drugs (including nicotine).  It can be tempting to turn to drugs and alcohol to numb painful feelings and memories and get to sleep. But substance abuse (and cigarettes) can make the symptoms of PTSD worse.
• Find safe ways to blow off steam. Pound on a punching bag, pummel a pillow, sing along to loud music, or find a secluded place to scream at the top of your lungs.
• Support your body with a healthy diet.  Omega-3s play a vital role in emotional health so incorporate foods such as fatty fish, flaxseed, and walnuts into your diet. Limit processed and fried food, sugars, and refined carbs which can exacerbate mood swings and energy fluctuations.
• Get plenty of sleep. Sleep deprivation exacerbates anger, irritability, and moodiness. Aim for somewhere between 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night.

PTSD in veterans recovery step 5: Deal with flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts

Flashbacks usually involve visual and auditory memories of combat. It feels as if it’s happening all over again so it’s vital to reassure yourself that the experience is not occurring in the present.

• State to yourself (out loud or in your head) the reality that while you feel as if the trauma is currently happening, you can look around and recognize that you’re safe.
• Use a simple script when you awaken from a nightmare or start to experience a flashback: “I feel [panicked, overwhelmed, etc.] because I’m remembering [traumatic event], but as I look around I can see that the event isn’t happening right now and I’m not in danger.”
• Describe what you see when look around (name the place where you are, the current date, and three things you see when you look around).
• Try tapping your arms to bring you back to the present.

Tips for grounding yourself during a flashback
If you’re starting to disassociate or experience a flashback, use your senses to bring you back to the present and “ground” yourself.
Movement	Touch
Move around vigorously (run in place, jump up and down, etc.); rub your hands together; shake your head	Splash cold water on your face; grip a piece of ice; touch or grab on to a safe object; pinch yourself; play with worry beads or a stress ball
Sight	Sound
Blink rapidly and firmly; look around and take inventory of what you see	Turn on loud music; clap your hands or stomp your feet; talk to yourself (tell yourself you’re safe, you’ll be okay)
Smell	Taste
Smell something that links you to the present (coffee, mouthwash, your wife’s perfume) or a scent that has good memories	Suck on a strong mint or chew a piece of gum; bite into something tart or spicy; drink a glass of cold water or juice

PTSD in veterans recovery step 6: Work through survivor’s guilt

Feelings of guilt are very common among veterans with PTSD. You may have seen people injured or killed, often your friends and comrades.

• You may ask yourself questions such as: Why did I survive when others didn’t?
• You may end up blaming yourself for what happened and believing that your actions (or inability to act) led to someone else’s death.
• You may feel that you’re the one who should have died. This is survivor’s guilt.

Healing from survivor’s guilt

• Healing doesn’t mean that you’ll forget what happened or those who died. And it doesn’t mean you’ll have no regrets. What it does mean is that you’ll look at your role more realistically: Is the amount of responsibility you’re assuming reasonable?
• Could you really have prevented or stopped what happened?
• Are you judging your decisions based on full information about the event, or just your emotions?
• Did you do your best at the time, under challenging circumstances?
• Do you truly believe that if you had died, someone else would have survived?

Honestly assessing your responsibility and role can free you to move on and grieve your losses. Instead of punishing yourself, you can redirect your energy into honoring those you lost and finding ways to keep their memory alive.

PTSD in veterans recovery step 7: Seek professional treatment

There are several different types of professional treatment for PTSD available.

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or “counselling” involves gradually “exposing” you to reminders of the event and replacing distorted thoughts with a more balanced picture.
• Medication, such as antidepressants,  may help you feel less sad or worried, but doesn’t treat the causes of PTSD.
• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) incorporates elements of CBT with eye movements or other rhythmic, left-right stimulation to help you become “unstuck.”

Helping a veteran with PTSD

When a loved one returns from military service with PTSD, it takes a heavy toll on your relationship and family life. You may have to take on a bigger share of household tasks, deal with the frustration of a loved one who won’t open up, or even deal with anger or disturbing behavior.

• Don’t take the symptoms of PTSD personally. If your loved one seems distant, irritable, angry, or closed off, remember that this may not have anything to do with you or your relationship.
• Don’t pressure your loved one into talking. Many veterans with PTSD find it difficult to talk about their experiences. Never try to force your loved one to open up but let him know that you’re there if he wants to talk. It’s your understanding that provides comfort, not anything you say.
• Be patient and understanding. Getting better takes time so be patient with the pace of recovery. Offer support but don’t try to direct your loved one.
• Try to anticipate and prepare for PTSD triggers such as certain sounds, sights, or smells. If you are aware of what causes an upsetting reaction, you’ll be in a better position to help your loved one calm down.
• Take care of yourself. Letting your loved one’s PTSD dominate your life while ignoring your own needs is a surefire recipe for burnout. Make time for yourself and learn to manage stress. The more calm, relaxed, and focused you are, the better you’ll be able to help your loved one. 
  

   

  .