Pam's husband, Mike, served in Vietnam. Before they met, he isolated himself from others. After they were married, he started receiving treatment for PTSD, and they went to couples counseling. Pam supported Mike while he overcame his challenges, and he was able to get back on track.
View Video TranscriptPam:
Hi, I'm Pam. I'm married to Mike who's a Marine. He was in from 1960 to 68 in Vietnam. He has PTSD and until you get to know him, he's kind of a jerk but once you get to know him, he's a lovable, sweet guy, will do anything for you.
He didn't know that anything was wrong. He didn't even know he could get benefits unfortunately. He was just beginning to start to talk about his time in Vietnam. Before that, my understanding was he didn’t ever talk about it, never referred to it like it didn’t exist.
If a helicopter comes over, he immediately goes into a PTSD-like, just definitely watches them, where they are, doesn't like them being around. Then if you have other noises especially like fireworks or something like that, that'll trigger a flashback. Somewhere around in there he spent about nine years in his bedroom.
We met in 2002. He had been diagnosed around 87, had gone through a psych ward, had gone through some treatments but was currently, I believe he was not currently having any psychological treatment at the time. He's had some since we've gotten together, and we've had some couple’s therapies. He has six kids before me and he was married six times before me, and his kids all say, "yeah, you have changed him so much, he's much, much happier, much less angry."
He goes anywhere and everywhere now, whereas he wouldn't go anywhere before. He truly wants to help other Veterans and especially the ones coming back now because he doesn't want them to be treated like he was treated.
The Vet Center is a good place to start for psychologic, even for the talking. Your primary care doctor will refer you to any program that they think you'll need or that you even think you want, think you need. The VA's there and you just have to take advantage of it. Sometimes we forget and we think we can fix it all ourselves but it’s there and it should be taken advantage of. That's what they're there for is to help take care of him.
No matter what you may be experiencing, there is support for getting your life on a better track. Many, many Veterans have found the strength to reach out and make the connection.
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