How Do You Deal With This?!?

[CAFTT0607]

So I am still the FNG. God this sucks. Did Basra, Iraq for a year , 06-07. Got the shit kicked out of us...almost daily. Peak of the insurgency. Damn. IDF was the big thing. They (Iranian supported) were very good at putting rockets (107, 122, 240s) where they wanted to on the COB. We were a small team. Six Americans 'training' (yeah, right!) Iraqis on how to 'run' an AF. So to add to the IDF, none of these Iraqis were vetted. No idea who to trust. Saw several on cell phones after attacks doing pace counts. Bastards! F'em! Anyway, shit sucked. Talk about hypervigelence, rage, anxiety. I see a doc next week thank God. Cause I need help, bad. Been dealing with this for 5 years. So tired of it. But i know, realistically, it will never go away. Never. F'in' so furious.

 

[shogun]

Hey brother, I still I have a deep hatred and anger with people on cell phones. There's ways to deal. This site has a lot of good info and good people who understand. Always safe to vent here. You're already taking the first steps. It's a long road but many have walked it before.

 

[Brokencop]

I to would love any advice on Cell phones! I have a huge problem, while driving through the stop and go traffic of the city. Seeing someone dial or text on the side of the road! I'll speed Up turn if I can or blow red lights. Those f*cks using cells to trigger IEDs. We had cell phone jammers on our vehicles but I just did not trust them fully.

 

[Raven]

Seeing people with cell phones out, especially in their cars, makes me uneasy as well. I must be a bit of a hypocrite, however, because I am always f*cking around with mine since I use it to play music.

 

[Jimmy1]

It's all about the cognitive thought process. Every time something happens you have to learn how to stop and break it down. It's not easy though, but what is in life.
When I got back from Iraq, I jumped at every noise, the artillery on the range (being I live near a base) sounded like the primary of a mortar. Fireworks kept my head down, people with mobiles made me weary and got forbid anyone dressed in a burqua.

You have to trust the psych training.

For example, when your driving along and you see someone driving on a mobile, stop when you can and tell yourself that it's alright. You have to ground yourself as to where you are (not over there).
Now this is going to take a while due to there being more than one thing that gives you the jitters, but trust me, it works. It's taken me nearly 7 years, but I can now go to fireworks with my son.

If you refuse to believe that it can be cured and you believe you are worse of than anyone else, then lock yourself up in a sanitarium.

You have to be hard on yourself at the same time giving yourself a break. So what if it doesn't work for the first 20 times.

Also having someone to support you and to nicely remind you where you are is a good thing too.

Just my opinion.

Jimmy

 

[CAFTT0607]

Thanks Jimmy. You have good points. My wife reminds of this stuff when she can. Depending on the trigger depends on how successful I am in 'compartmenting' the reaction, for lack of a better term. Thanks again.