It is always so sad to read these posts. Letting go of personal trauma can be like breaking free of the grip of alcohol or addictive drugs.
I remember an incident that triggered a flashback for a WW2 veteran. It was forty years after the war and suddenly he was emotionally back in the war. Shaking, vomiting. Five minutes later he was back in control and we talked about it for a while. He had been a bomber pilot on those Memphis Bell type raids and he lived through the cold sweats and vomiting on every single mission. Once over that bump the adrenaline took over, all to be repeated again on the next mission, if he survived until then.
There's a lot of different faces of PTSD. It doesn't necessarily have to be related to war. Once caught up in the loop it an be hard to let go. Police, firemen, crime victims ... just facing life's routine emergencies can be extremely stressful. I've been there myself.
I think it helps to read and explore what others did to find the light that pulled them through the tunnels. Seeing how others were able to reach beyond after living through horrible nightmares helps.
Tonight's PBS Memorial Day Program had a wonderful piece about a Marine named Bill Rider who survived the Khe Sanh siege. He was part of the Walking Dead battalion. They talked about PTSD, except they left the "D" off because post traumatic stress is a "normal" reaction, and not necessarily a disease.
