Basic Human Needs

[Ned]

Ned, that is where I have been. Just starting to come out of the fog and understand I need to set some things to work towards and look forward to.

Good. Thought about this one because it was a puzzle as to why we go into that neutral. Like I said above, our Maslow/pyramid/perception bits can get f*cked up by the conditioning to the inverted reality of ops.
Now, I know that when deployed, it was like having a pause button pressed. You go in to a different state, live from day to day, all the homey goals/aspirations get pushed to the background.
In Gornji Vakuf we had an officer in the RHF who, every Sunday, put on his kilt and went for a walk into town. Brilliant, the kids loved it. Point is, he did that to keep a grip on time passing, wasn't just a succession of 24 hour chunks.
Perhaps the drifting, no goals thing is a futile reversion to that kind of coping state?

 

[Jimmy1]

Well I think its also a pure form of depression. No outlook on life.
Today, I still wake up in the morning and have to remind myself why I am here and what I am looking forward to.
It can be upsetting for my family and my future bride, but its the truth. And as I am a tiny bit blunt with what I say, it can sometimes hurt those I love.

I think when veterans return home and are undiagnosed, and in the early days of treatment its the worst. That is why they self medicate, whether by alcohol, illicit drugs etc, etc. Because they just can't handle reality.

Some days still get a bit much for me. All my energy is focusing on getting rid of the infection so I have been vulnerable to everything else.

Starting to waffle. Catch Ya's.

 

[Marine/w/PTSD]

If I were to use maslow's chart, I'd say I'm totally missing the the entire esteem part of the pyramid but have some of all the other parts, so his chart makes no sense to me.

 

[JarHed]

This may sound a bit crazy but I think that those of us with PTSD that try to figure it out and move forward towards a better life for ourselves are actually better off than most other people. We have to work harder at everything, we know that we do.

The 'average joe's and jill's' out there don't have a clue what we've been through or are dealing with. They think life's about who has the 'most' or 'best' of stuff, stuff. We have to work at just existing. I do like the chart. There are many such things like that out there if you do your research. Better understanding is a powerful tool in being able to live with this.

I do like what's been said about Hope. This is what I think about it. Hope is a seed, you have to plant it inside of you. Once it's there you have to feed it daily or at least as much as you can. With time it grows and blossoms into possibilities. Possibilities are what make life livable. Without hope we only exist. And with all our other problems you start to loose the battle of life.

Just Jar's 2cents.

 

[Sarg]

Enticing thread. (more like a buck's worth, Jar). It was hope that brought me back to the mountains. It was in hope that I would get back with old friends and try to build some sort of social life after years of alcoholic-hazed existence (survival).

Yes we do have to work harder for it. We're living in a maze. Many dark corners and dead ends. But doesn't it make what we accomplish of more worth than that easily gotten? I can look back with a little pride that I pulled myself out of the swamp I was living, the river of Jack Daniels. The world is a lot "clearer" outside the bottle.

"One foot in front of the other", my tired old phrase. But to me it has become more of a religion than a philosophy.

Sarg

 

[Ned]

"One foot in front of the other", my tired old phrase. But to me it has become more of a religion than a philosophy.

Sarg

True enough, anything on top of one foot in front of the other, you get points for style.........

 

[Tim Cake]

Life is just a "long march"...:whistle:

 

[Wagon]

Damn straight. It is a long march. I drive it in the ditch every other week, but I pick it right back up again and keep moving. Stopping is death for folks like us.

Allot of hope and no expectations.....that's the sweet spot. I don't expect much of anything these days from anyone. Keeps disappointment at an all time low.

 

[Wagon]

Jimmy Said
Then we as innocent as ever are deployed overseas or witness something so horrific, it chills us to the bone, and what saves us. Not what we were taught as a child or young man. What saves us is what we were taught in the military. Dive at the first sound of a gunshot then crawl to a safe firing position. Look out for the bloke beside you. etc etc.

So when we come home, we are still living in a world dominated by our perceptions we learnt whilst surviving.
That is why we don't function real well in society.

I missed this. This describes "cognitive dissonance" to a tee.