Addressing anger and irritability
Interviewee1:
I think immediately after getting out, you know, I was just happy to be out, happy to be able to sleep in and, you know, not having somebody yell at me about shaving or whatever, and then almost immediately thereafter, you know, problems started to arise in getting upset and blowing off all this steam at once.
Interviewee2:
My compassion was gone. When I got back from the war I was seething, there was so much anger inside me.
Interviewee3:
I just wouldn't talk to anybody. I didn't want to be bothered, I hated people bringing up that I, you know, going to Iraq.
Interviewee4:
No one was talking about their problems. No one was talking about trauma. We told a lot of war stories that got better as the years went on. I still had the anger, I still had the addictions, but we didn't talk about that.
Interviewee5:
It was just the frustration and anger that was built up in me, and it came across in everything that I said and the way I expressed myself.
Interviewee6:
It was everything from driving in the car and honking and yelling and I would get in arguments with my family, I would yell at them, but...my Mom, my girlfriend, my brother, nobody understood, and I felt angered that they didn't understand what I was going through.
Interviewee7:
I felt like I had been violated going to war, and I didn't really know how to channel those internal feelings.
Interviewee8:
I guess a few years after that my family started noticing the differences. My temper, attitude, kind of not really wanting to go outside and deal with people.
Interviewee1:
We fought too hard to defend our freedoms and for the liberties that we have that we have to come home and come back to being a civilian and be miserable all the time or to have, you know, anger moments and, you know, rage.
Interviewee8:
I went in and I went to the group and I sat in the back and I just listened. And I could identify with a lot of what the guys were saying, so, like, “Okay, maybe this might be something that might be beneficial.” So then I got the instructors card, because you pass them out, like at the class there at the table at the meeting, and then I called there and made an appointment.
Interviewee6:
I went into my initial appointment and the lady brought me in and I basically just talked for, like, an hour and a half, not even realizing, just kind of letting it out. I had never been able to do that. I had never been able to just freely talk to anybody, any doctor, and I just felt comfortable there.
Interviewee7:
What I got out of it was that it's okay, first of all, to know that you went to war and the war affected you. You have to go speak to somebody, because sometimes a person sees things within yourself that you don't see for yourself to help, extract that feeling, that thought, that information, and then make you realize it, can only make you feel better.
Interviewee5:
It's recognizing or admitting to the fact you have issues, you have a problem, and that you need some help, some guidance to help you get through that.
Interviewee3:
I feel much better. I can deal with my emotions now. Every day I can control what I do that day. My emotions don't control me anymore. And that brings a huge amount of peace of mind.
Interviewee4:
My anger is less, a lot less, so I'm able to deal with things a lot better. It has tremendously helped me, tremendously.
Interviewee6:
Working with the VA, specifically one counselor who is kind of your day-to-day counselor, amazing woman. I don't know where I'd be without her.
Interviewee2:
You know, I felt so good for the care that I got that it's, like, I want to tell the whole world out there “Go seek help.” There's people out there that that's what they do, that's their job. They listen to you, they help you out, they show you ways, and that's wonderful.
