Families Living And Coping With Ptsd.

[Deleted member 10645]

My name is Steve Sparks, son of a decorated WWII veteran, Vernon H. Sparks, BMC US Navy (1918-1998). My Dad survived the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 while serving on the USS West Virginia. He went on to serve on the USS Belle Grove in the Asiatic Pacific Theater. Dad was diagnosed with severe "battle fatigue" (now PTSD) shortly after the end of WWII following 66 months of combat duty, including before the beginning of WWII, ending June 1945. He was sent away to a treatment center at a US Naval Hospital for 6 weeks. Dad served in the Korean War as well, which did not help his condition in the least bit. PTSD and treatment at that time was not well understood nor available, including the right medications. Alcohol was the chosen medication of the time, and clearly did not help matters. This issue is a legacy of war, and we must do all we can to break the pattern of abuse that often happens in families living with untreated PTSD victims who survived terrible experiences in combat.

Sincerely,

Steve Sparks
Depoe Bay, Oregon

 

[anthony]

Hi Steve,

I have lifted your ban as per your contact message, as well as edited promotional aspects from your introduction.

Please ensure you have read the forum policies before posting, as whilst I understand you are proud of your efforts in writing about your intergenerational PTSD, this forum has a blanket policy on zero self promotion / advertising.

If you steer clear of this, then there will be no further issue and I look forward to reading your responses to others here. If you self promote, then obviously the ban must be reimplemented, permanently.

Thanks for contacting me,

Anthony

 

[Deleted member 10645]

Thanks for your help and support. I hope my research and work on intergenerational PTSD can be a helpful resource to others. This is a complex subject and not easy for folks to talk about, but reaching out is the best path to healing. I'll look forward to engaging with others and learning from this forum.

 

[Deleted member 10645]

My hope with this forum is to hear from children and spouses of combat veterans from all wars who suffered from the symptoms of PTSD as a result of living with these circumstances for a long period of time. My research shows that many family members acquire all of some of the symptoms of PTSD from living with a combat veteran returning home as a different person. If our loved ones returning home from combat duty do not get adequate treatment, a toxic home culture can evolve over time effectively transferring symptoms of PTSD to family members. I acquired the symptoms of PTSD from my father who survived 66 months of continuous combat duty in the Navy before and during all of WWII. Dad served another 12 months of combat duty during the Korean War. Dad suffered for many years until he was able to receive adequate treatment with therapy and medications. It was no picnic in our home!

 

[Froggie]

Hello Steve, and welcome to the forum. My parents were also kids in WWII. My mother definately has PTSD as she was raped during the war. My father was part of the resistance group, even at his young age (9-14 years old). So, yes I can relate to what homelife was like. My PTSD didn't stem from there, I witnessed an awful crime that just buzzled me out even if I'm psychologically strong. Best of luck with your research, but I do have a question : when you say the family members acquire some of the symptoms, wouldn't it be more like a conditionning with certain beliefs derived from non-treated PTSD ? I can understand if the PTSDer used different types of violence towards the family that family members would end up also with PTSD. Otherwise, it would be something like re-education for the person who wants to shake off the upbringing. Will be waiting for your reply on this subject.

 

[Deleted member 10645]

I believe your "conditioning" question is excellent. There must be a cultural component as well as the reaction to violence causing trauma and the appearance of PTSD symptoms along the way. I know my Dad thought he was doing the right thing by teaching us how to be tough sailors on a ship at war in the Asiatic Pacific Theater. Dad was on the USS Belle Grove LSD2 in seven campaigns, including Iwo Jima. His boys at home were seaman to him, so he kicked us around violently at times. But we were not mature enough to understand. I believe you are on to something important that includes "conditioning" and learning behaviors from mentors, kind of like "brain washing" if you will. If you are exposed to this type toxic culture as a little kid and throughout your young life you acquire your parents beliefs until there is an opportunity to learn from others i.e., re-education as you say. My research conclusions include a "lessons learned" and a model for self discovery to aid in the re-conditioning or healing process. Thanks very much for the question. Hope we can continue the conversation. I learned something new.