I have P.T.S.D. I have been told I have this severe. As a child I was beaten and sexually abused. Into my adolescent years this type of abuse continued along with death threats from my mother. My 17 birthday I joined the Navy turned into such a drunk was no use to them. Drugs and prison followed. At 37 I got out of prison for the last time and sought treatment. I am 44 on methadone engage in two psychotherapy mtg's a week. Life is good I'm clean and have hope.

In 2001 I had an electrical injury! 440 volts for over a minute! The only thing that saved me was the passing of the voltage in through the hand and out the back of the knuckle! All this time I suffered tremendous torture! Over the years my hyper vigilance grew yet I never realized how bad off I was! In 2007 I had a severe flashback that set me back! The hyper vigilance in many situations made me more accident prone! June2008 I sought immediate help! 3 years of psychotic drugs to tell the medical profession exactly what I told them in 2007! Now on Workers Compensation! Given a monetary settlement and $ months to get better! Physically I am 100%! Mentally I am a different level! Money cannot buy mental health! Yes things are improving but the trauma I suffered like so many others cannot be measured! There are times when I feel I'd be better off dead!

My husband came back from Vietnam with PTSD and was diagnosed with anxiety. What helped him the most was writing and rewriting his experiences (at least five drafts on a typewriter) into a memoir (Chickenhawk). It moved nightmares and intrusive thoughts and memories into his past. It didn't cure the PTSD, but it made life more bearable. A few years ago, he also started on Zoloft, which helped with his depression that I consider a natural result of PTSD's emotional numbing. Refuse your feelings and you will get depressed.

After being abused when I was a child, moving many of times, going through my parents divorce, and being raped as a teenager, I could hardly sleep, and began having panic attacks all the time. This lead me to see a therapist who helped me work through my past which I kept a secret for years. I was finally feeling better until overwhelming stress and sexual harassment at work pushed me over the edge and I was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It was absolutely awful. I didn't want to do anything, go anywhere, and was terrified of anything related to my job (of which I had to leave on doctor's orders). It's almost been a year and things have improved, but it's astonishing what this can do to a person. I've found therapy very helpful, along with medicine, plenty of sleep, light exercise, keeping a journal of how I feel and trying to make small goals for myself. If I could do anything differently, I would have spoken up a lot earlier, and not have pretended everything was fine until I couldn't take it anymore.

Well I just came back from my third time in Iraq. I've been suffering from anxiety for quite a while now. The real problem to me is my father has been taking medication for 20 years due to anxiety and now I don't know if I have PTSD or just an anxiety disorder or both. If anyone has this same problem, you are not alone. I love the military very much, but it will really take a toll on some people. What an underlined price I pay for my country.

I am a photojournalist who very nearly died an horrific death in an African warzone. For three long years I refused to get any help, until everything fell apart. I could no longer work. My friends found my (what I now know to be) hypervigilance unbearable.Under a month ago, I sought help and was diagnosed with PTSD the same day. My PTSD is pretty bad, but I have already found anti-anxiety drugs to be a bit helpful, though nothing dramatic yet. My sleep is still deeply troubled, plagued by nightmares and constant waking. I'm sure it's just a matter of time. I would like to get back to work. Perhaps I should photograph different kinds of intensity.

Talking. Just being able to get out all the bad that sits in my head. The flashbacks and night terrors are starting to fade. It's been two years and my daughter and I are both dealing with depression and PTSD, but my current boyfriend is a savior. Our fears of pain and anger are fading.

My husband just came back from Iraq and he became more verbally abusive as well as displaying more anxious behaviors like biting nails and shaking of legs... Not to mention the nightmares... We don't know what to do. War Veteran Wife

I am an incest survivor and never really dealt with my feelings about it until I was overwhelmed by them in my 40's. With antidepressants and a therapist who used EMDR treatment, I finally became better "put together" after 10 years of treatment. During those 10 years, I started to feel better and I really didn't pay much attention to how long it might take.