Former Marine, Iraq War Veteran, Recovering Alcoholic, Ptsd / Social Anxiety Survivor...

[JakeDennert]

Classic Marine Corps tale Jake... You know whats over the hill your humping? Another hill.
Glad your here, tough row to hoe but we all make a similar journey to the end. I know your story is all yours but a lot of us have similar ones. I know the bottom of a bottle all to well and I am proud you have stayed sober for so long. Congrats on the hard work!
I was in the 2nd mardiv during the 1st gulf war and I ran around the jungles of central America quite a bit as well. Semper Fi Brother! and Welcome!

Awesome, another one!

Thanks for the welcome, reddevil.

Haven't had as much time as I would like lately to get on here and socialize, but I'm hoping that changes soon.

Nice to meet ya!

Semper Fi,

Jake D.

 

[Marc St-Louis]

Welcome Gyrene and congrats on taking the first steps

 

[JakeDennert]

Welcome Gyrene and congrats on taking the first steps

Thanks Marc!

 

[Spock]

...And I'm sure my direct experience with PTSD will always be more relevant to folks here, as it's combat PTSD, but like I said, I joined the other one thinking I could maybe help people with other forms...How well can I possibly relate to them?...I'm glad Anthony created a separate place for us Vets to get together and talk, well, like Vets. (haha, without pissing anybody off) :)
Jake D.

Nice to meet you Jake. I joined after you but saw your conversation with Jimmy. I went through an outpatient program at Walter Reed that treated both non-combat & combat PTSD patients. We met separately in the morning and together for group activities in the afternoon, such as art therapy or exposure therapy for outings on the Metro to museums or bowling. The reasons and interactions are exactly as you & Jimmy describe for Anthony's design for this website. In general, there are exceptions, the Combat PTSD folks were less patient & the non-combat PTSD seemed overly dramatic, still some were completely shutdown.

 

[Vtownstrider]

My name is Jake, and I've changed quite a bit over the last 5 years.

I've gone from functioning alcoholic to recovering alcoholic, with almost four and a half years of complete sobriety.

I used to have alcohol coursing through my body from the minute I woke up in the morning to the minute I went to sleep at night. Why drink so much? To hide from my real issues.

I have PTSD from the things I saw, did, and experienced during my combat tour in Fallujah... and (though I didn't know it until just a couple years ago) I have social anxiety on top of that, stemming all the way back to middle school / high school.

Almost immediately after taking the booze away, these deeper issues rose to the surface.

What was the turning point? What made me sober up?

A near-death-experience car accident in October, 2008. Changed everything. Been sober ever since.

I've made a lot of personal progress since then. I no longer see myself as a sufferer... I'm a survivor.

With combat PTSD, with social anxiety, with the challenges of staying completely sober.

That's why I'm here.

To meet, connect with, and hopefully help anyone who is going through what I used to struggle so much with:

-- Social Anxiety

-- Combat PTSD

-- Alcoholism

I feel like I'm as close to "normal" as I've ever been, and I haven't had a drop of alcohol in more than 4 years. It hasn't been easy. I have my ups and downs -- good days, bad days -- but I'm never going back to what I was.

Anyway, that's a very brief version of my story. I'm glad to be here... and I'm excited to help others along their path to recovery... so they can live healthy, fulfilling lives free of debilitating combat PTSD symptoms, social anxiety, and a dependence on alcohol.



Thanks for reading! :)

Jake D.

Jake,
I am glad that you found the site!!