PTSD Nightmares: PTSD Symtoms

Dr. Leveque is a retired physician who served in WWII; he writes about PTSD as he lives with it.

Battle injured from World War Two Courtesy: media.photobucket.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - One of the best depictions of PTSD nightmare terrors and violence was shown in a recent episode of Greys Anatomy.

A new doctor on the show, Owen, was a recent returnee from the military surgical operating rooms in Iraq. He was tough as nails which is a requirement for being a surgeon under those conditions but he had PTSD just as bad as any frontline Combat Infantryman.

He had fallen in love with one of the surgical residents, a Korean lady who had been through her own baptism of fire. Thank goodness for that. She did have some understanding of his problems.

He, Owen, outwardly exhibited many of the signs and symptoms of PTSD but they could have been overlooked by the junior surgical interns and residents who just thought he was a run of the mill SOB. NOT SO!

He and the lady ended up sleeping together which is a fairly natural sequelae for male and female medical surgical residents. That is another future story!

I myself am currently being examined and evaluated for PTSD some 60 years after my wartime battle experience. My first impression of the evaluations is that the VA incoming patient evaluators don’t have much of a clue about post battle medical care and practically none about the psychological damage of kill or be killed and blood and guts battle realities.

My first encounter was a social service type and certainly made a good effort for a battle scarred veteran. When she handed me a list of the signs and symptoms of PTSD and asked if I had any of them, I broke down. The memories came back like a Tsunami and I couldn’t even think or speak for several minutes.

So that the average non-PTSD reader might understand I am presenting these PTSD symptoms: ANGER AND RAGE, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, LACK OF TRUST, EMOTIONAL NUMBING, SURVIVOR GUILT, HYPER ALERTNESS, SEVERE GRIEF, BAD MEMORIES, ISOLATION, LOSS OF PLEASURE, STRESS REACTIVITY, DISLIKE OF ANY AUTHORITY FIGURES, LOW SELF ESTEEM, NIGHTMARES, POOR SLEEP, DRUG ABUSE ESPECIALLY OF VA PRESCRIBED INEFFECTIVE DRUGS.

Most PTSD Vets have several of these and it can make a Vet into a sociopath or even a psychopath and that is what this article is about.

Owen and his lady were sleeping together and all of the sudden he had a triggering event. He grabbed her by the throat and almost choked her to death.

She was able to break his hold and call a friend who got between them. He had little memory of the event which is common.

Many of his friends tried to get him to “get a hold of himself” but that is a no-go. It just don’t work like that. He was finally talked into seeing a shrink and she was about as mushy as the rest.

She wanted him to “talk about” what might have caused this unfortunate and dangerous outburst. That is the kicker. We PTSD Vets have several layers of terror stuck in our brains and we cannot pull them out without breaking down and that is much worse than the original terror events.

I will be the first as a PTSD victim and a physician trying to medically take care of PTSD Vets to say that the real resolution somewhat evades me.

In the meantime, I don’t think anyone in the VA system is asking PTSD Vets “what would you like us to do for you”. In the meantime we have an epidemic of PTSD Vet suicides, murders and self medicating trying to get the PTSD demons out of our heads.

HOORAH FOR MY FELLOW PTSD VETS!

ONCE NORMAL BUT STILL OUTSTANDING GUYS!

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Do you have a a question, comment, or story to share with Dr. Leveque?
Email him: Pot Doc Answers

More information on the history of Dr. Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII about his own experiences "from a foxhole".
Order the book by mail by following this link: Dogface Soldier

If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.

Watch for more streaming video question and answer segments about medical marijuana with Bonnie King and Dr. Phil Leveque.

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