PTSD ~ The Silent Stalker

Dad was seldom a happy man. It didn't matter that T.G.I.F. meant the end of a hard work week or, holidays were suppose to be a time of joy and birthdays a really special occasion.  So rarely his handsome features radiated that kind of smile that just reached all the way up to his beautiful hazel eyes.

When the phantoms inside his head became flesh and blood, he would strike out not because he wanted to, but because he was fighting an enemy none of us could see.

The distant rumblings of thunder was more than the warning of an impending storm.  In the darkness fear could strike quickly and his demeanor would flick in an instant like the switches controlling the current running through the walls of our home. 

There was no escape or forewarning most times.  We never knew when that phantom would strike and change the man we wanted so much to love us ... so much to be just our dad ... so much to act like a man who enjoyed his family.  We were held prisoner by the same demons torturing his mind and soul, making him relive over and over again the horror of a war he served so proudly as a very young teen and a war that held him missing in action for more than a year. Dad NEVER talked about that time ... never wanted help ... never asked for help.  He was too proud and coped with it the best way he knew how.

This story is for all of you who may know a veteran or someone in active duty battling with the same images and experiences of war.  Please take a moment to read and research PTSD. We can not help our loved ones, if we are ignorant of the source sucking the life from their very souls. To know is to understand.

For more information on PTSD you can visit the following informative links:
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_treatment.htm
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/ptsd

According to the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder nearly 1/3 of all veterans suffer from this disease, dramatically affecting not only their mental health but also, their employment, relationship with friends, and most importantly, their interaction with their wives and children.