TBI and PTSD: Navigating the Perfect Storm

Interesting read

I read this with such a heavy heart.."Navigating the Perfect Storm, a more perfect title does not exist..Our lives have been destroyed..I often get the question, "Why don't you just leave, why do you stay?"...I always say because I love him and I want to know that I did everything that I could possibly do to help him...Sometimes we have to learn to let go and let them make that decision of help on their own..I often cry knowing that our youngest child has never known what an awesome, loving and caring father he once had but those memories have long faded away for him..I often wonder if it would be easier for me to let go if I had never known that kind, caring, wonderful, full of love person that was so great...

This is a great read and information, thank you very much. The "wave-tops" are definitely hit on this read, and answers many targeted questions for many that can relate. It gives a great foundation for those who can connect these pieces to branch outward in getting the rightful assistance, treatment and help.

My Daughter is post severe TBI (3 months coma) From auto accident 9 years ago. She has developed possible p.t.s.d. From the voids in her life she wants badly. Her delusions seem to be caused from her desires and scary night terrors.( A year ago she had a Neuro sych / (insurance co. Said we had to do this or they stop paying) that was more like an interrogation..she dropped 17 lbs in a month) I was told even though I am her legal guardian, I could not be with my daughter during the testing/ I regret not walking out with her. She was happy and easier for 7 years and now personalty changing to depression seclusion and combative. Meds? Anxiety? PTSD? Difficult to trust anyone (docs) anymore. Support? Recommendations? We've come so far and to just let go is not an option, I don't want her to get hurt or hurt anyone. Reply if you have advice or support, thanks! .

My wife suffers from both.

I have been diagnosed with PTSD a moderate TBI with bleeding and contusion in the grey matter, Depression and anxiety. And you are right you have to earn the right to hear about my PTSD and my TBI I'm going to tell you every time. Depression is death when and how. The only thing keeping me alive are my heavy medications. There is too much to say about all of this and it's hard finding people that understand the extent of these injuries.

I am a 52 year old male.. I found out i have lived with ptsd and tbi for 27 years . i just fond out in 2013 . Thank god i went too er was having hallucinations unrelated to tbi but was found then. I was an explosion in 1987 in  lav.. with 2 marines lav  battalion in 1987 at Fort Benning, Ga.  To my knowledge now was first time used in our unit. I was a test dummy so too speak . i was dummy in side who lived .I was medic at time . Treating others and unknowing my self.. Im lucky im alive and back in Va care. It helps me every day make a difference in a positive way.

The man I love was recently given a PTSD & TBI diagnosis. I'm not surprised as I picked up on some cognitive issues, mood swings and withdrawal. His injuries were sustain while serving. He called to tell me and he is now pushing away from me. Telling me to move on with my life. He is fearful he will harm me unintentionally, or be a burden. My position is I love him...good or bad. Advice?? Should I give him his space to sort out the implications if the diagnosis. I can't imagine being with any other man; I love him deeply. Am I being foolish??

The man I love has Pstd & TBI. I can't begin to imagine what he is experiencing. I just know that he needs me to be there. Sometimes you can read articles like this one in an attempt to understand what she or he is living, sometimes are you trying to convince yourself that you can love them enough. I think it's a testament of strength and loyalty to have the back of your beloved vet. Given the sacrifice and the emotional and physical that may constitute the new version of your amazing person. Don't take it to heart, be proud them and yourself. He tells me to go away and leave him alone..... Like that's going to happen.... Love him to much.

Vet Centers are the best things about the VA. I am a female veteran with PTSD and TBI. No big surprise I'm single. Those who have significant others... do what you can to love and appreciate them. They know you have problems but they love you away. That's a blessing. Don't jump on them for not understanding... be thankful they'll listen. We all the PTSD and TBI combination sucks but that doesn't mean life has to. I know finding enjoyment in life can be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack but keep digging. It's there. The process will keep you alive and the findings will keep you grateful for life. That's my spill. Keep fighting the good fight friends and comrads. And when you can't fight take a nap and when you can't take a nap tell someone you who loves you and knows you that you need a hug. I don't know yall but I love you all and you're not alone. Take care.

I feel as if you are wrong in part. I have both PTSD and a TBI I spent 2.5 months in a coma. I have been a fish out of water since. I have spent over half my life this way. I am very intelligent, and find most of this life a bore. I listen to everyone, but find most to be myopic. People who are supposed to help are to busy trying to label you, for then they don't need to spend time thinking about me, or more often they want to give you more medicine so you lose free thought. They want to manage you as if you are a pet that can learn tricks, and point to as a success. I want more, and in fact need more. This life is becoming a waste of time.

Please understand what I'm about to explain. We  might suffer from TBI and PTSD.  I ;myself; did undertake  "Journeys for Answers" and came up with all different reasons that don't even have nothing to do with this conditions. It is simply the attitude of some people towards folks like us.This has always occurred in the past and present for all war vets and regular folks with no combat time. It is a phenomenon called "Selfishness and Greed!" The people who work for the different levels of our government such as city,state and federal :WHO! do not have not one minute of Armed Forces Service and who control key positions where a job can be given to a veteran and yet they hold those positions from being filled because THE GOV gives them a bonus for doing the most work with the least employees. This the main cause. People Factor is the Key.NOT YOUR CONDITION,CORRUPT GOV> There is a lot of bad people out there wheeling and dealing with vet benefits! So to all my fellow sufferers It is not you ,it is the attitude of the people above you that just don't to give what you need; just out of greed and selfishness. Eventually it will catch up with them. I have met them all. IT IS NOT US IT IS THEM> YOU GOT NOTHING TO SUFFER FOR NEEDLESSLY. IT S NOT YOUR FAULT,IT IS NOT OUR FAULT! They are the perpetrators! From all nationalities and races. Corrupt to the max!Nobody monitors them!

I'm now 32. at 16, I was "awarded" a TBI with frontal lobe damage and damage to basil ganglia. Very generic response here, cant list all info or would take a full website. It was the result of a car wreck, I was not driving. I also suffered a DVT in my left leg. I have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, PTSD, TBI, and a few other issues, but still do not qualify for disability when it comes to the US Government. I was considered a disabled student, but that's about it. Since the accident, I've been able to find work for a total of maybe 3 years out of 16 years. I've graduated college, with honors, but no one wants to hire me. I try to do my best, but every employer views me as a liability because I'm not like everyone else. Talk about feeling completely useless! I've kept to myself and held in 96% of all of my emotions over the years, but I'm almost to a breaking point. I just want to let others that have TBI's know one thing.... Please don't ever give up. Life may suck, but it is still life and something to complain about. Not a day goes by that I do not think about taking the easy way out, but I found an understanding and loving girl and have a wonderful family to keep me going. Without them, I know for a fact that I would have ended my life long ago. I guess I'm just still struggling with dealing with the fact that it probably will be all I ever have... I want to work, I want to design, I want to market, I want to live. I've lost my "go" button and need tons of help, but I cannot seem to find any place willing to help. O how i curse the dreaded TBI. Subarachnoid hemorrhaging, not a day goes by that I do not feel your presence bulging through my mind; preventing me from living the life I obsess over each and every day... Ehh.. it could just all be in my head! If anyone reads this and wants to help out, then please by all means do. nickwarner17 @ gmail. com

Got a comment/question for the brainiacs. If you stigmatize PTSD as the article does (anger, confusion, anger, suicide, blaming the Veteran for the loss of intimacy, ETC) do you think that may contribute to:

The Veteran being isolated by others, furthering the isolation?

The fear of talking to brainiacs, who can institutionalize you, resulting in losing of RIGHTS, ETC, the Veteran fought for?

And that has a negative effect on all the rest!!!

So, brainiacs, maybe getting input from actual combat veterans, who also might have also have an education (not to mention COMMON SENSE) just might help?

Hummmm???????

Just a few weeks ago, I met the man of my dreams. Sadly, he suffers from PTSD and TBI due to an explosion that he was victim to while serving. He has depression and social anxiety, so it's been difficult getting through to him lately. But just during the few wonderful times we've spent together, I truly know he's the one for me. He's had a hard time dating because a lot of women don't see past his challenges. I do. I can see straight into his heart. And there I see the most loving, kind, intelligent, funny, creative, gentle, brave and handsome man I've ever met in my life. I know he's going through a very hard time right now...I pray for him every single day, morning and night. He's always on my mind. I won't ever give up on him or ever stop praying for his full recovery and restoration. I would give anything to hear him laugh, see his amazing smile and stare into his beautiful brown eyes again. One day with him would be worth a lifetime of waiting...

Ashley A.

I was injured in Iraq and i have both tbi and PTSD. I take my meds but i still get wild moodswings. I completed my TRP group, i dont know how my wife handles it. It can get rough somedays.

Lash provides an excellent description of emotional issues I have witnessed a loved one dealing with after multiple accidents, including one that caused skull fractures. Most difficult of all, however, is getting THAT person to understand the likely cause, especially when you live in an area where all the so-called healthcare agencies and social services DENY the existence of TBI and refuse to read anything like this excellent article. Extremely frustrating to KNOW this and not receive the help you need to help your loved one -- on the contrary - we are being assaulted by local agencies - I am in particular, simply because I believe what I see and what has happened - because I am the only one NOT in denial in this scenario.

I can't emphasize enough, if you are or know a woman or man who is a combat veteran, please guide them to a Veteran's Center. These are NOT the VA. Though they are Federal, they have a level of confidentiality for help issues that the VA does not AND you will be among other veterans who KNOW the 'theater of war', which is very different than what a stateside or peacetime veteran can really comprehemd! The reps and cpunselors at the vet center's WILL help ypu! I suffered for many years with increasing isolation and a boatload of other negative stuff I am still trying to get through. The VA hospitals can help up to point but...srsly, get to a Vet center. I wish someone had bothered, including my caregivers at the VA's to be more positive about and point the way but truth is, most VA's don't really 'like' vet centers because they can't bully them. So many war vets suffer...SO mnay...esp females cause there's a lot of sexism by male and female staff cause up until the last few years even women who get legs blown off under attack were not thought of in 'heroic' terms as their brothers, EVEN if they were the same unit, squad, team! So you women war veterans don't fall for that MST game they try to lay on the sisters in arms. That's the few 'old brass' dude's in the DOD trying to get political. The old men who still living with WW2 mentalities. I ain't talking about the vets, I'm talking about dudes who live in a time gone by and want everyone else to as well. But if you did suffer MST, and that happens to ALOT of dudes too btw, then say so cause any POS that would harass a brother or sister in arms don't belong with those who 'stand strong'. They offend our dead. And ANY vet can go to a VA ER if need be, so long as you have your dd214 and were honorable.

Don't find reasons to die, find reasons to live .Those who fell are with us always. Let their lights shine above you when it gets dark and don't stay alone for too long in that dark. It won't help. You do NOT have to talk about n e thing too tough at a vet center, so don't worry about feeling over exposed. But the reps at these places can help make sure you get in safe housing if you need or want it and help with just Life stuff. 

AND btw, PTSD is horrible. Ignoring it for years for whatever reason, could result in it becoming entrenched and trust me when I say that is a bad, bad thing. Combine that with a brain injury, and even the people you think would never leave your back, will. It's imperative you get help to put a buffer, neutral zone, anything between your symptoms and your friends and family. I won't ever tell my fam all the bad ðetails, but I might tell an objective party, see? So, just don't be the lone wolf. There's nothing sexy or romantic about it and NO ONE is waiting to give you a medal for suffering all alone. And you'll find that out all by yourself too. Don't bother. Get your physical done at a VA and the rest? Get to a Vet Center. Nothing's easy about this my brothers and sisters in arms. Nothing. But, it might be more bearable if we watch each others six.

One more thing...the 'theater of war'? You either been in one or you ain't. Those of us who have might respect you peacetime or stateside support service, but don't you even try to front. I put any female in a war up against any stateside peacey bro in a ny minute. If you can't muster respect, keep your yaps shut and go play golf. Heads up to all my war fam. We're survivors,so let's survive together! And don't vote for any punk clown who tries to subtract or sneak on the VA, VBA, or vet center budgets!