Hi all,
I'm joining this forum on behalf of my father. He was a Police Officer and retired 1 year ago due to disability.
As a little kid, I recall my dad experiencing symptoms of PTSD. I remember hearing him yelling commands in the shower, yelling at me for no reason, and sheltering himself from the world.
Tonight, as I am 24 years old and we live 1000 miles apart, we finally talked about it over the phone. I had always seen it and believed that he was a sufferer, but didn't do anything about it. After a major divorce and re-marriage with someone I'm not too fond of, we haven't been very genuine with each other until now. I won't go into graphic details, but he recalled the exact amount of dead people he's had to tend to (76), nearly killing a man, and various other exposures he's had to deal with. Nobody has understood him and he expressed that there were nights that, because of this, he had held a gun to his head contemplating suicide but couldn't do it because of my sister and I.
He mentioned that he was ready to die for his brothers and sisters, as were they ready to die for him. When it came to debriefing, he was always the one to ask "how are you feeling?" to every one else, yet he's pained that nobody ever asked him... until I did.
There's a lot more to the story that I won't go into details on. Ultimately, we feel very relieved to have had this conversation with each other. I don't recall the last time I had a genuine conversation with him.
I'm joining this forum with the hope of finding professional help or support groups that can help him cope because he is very troubled. I've had my own run in with it, but have had support from others, including him, and pulled through on top. He's gone all of these years alone though, with two completely oblivious wives (my mom and step mom) that didn't and don't validate his feelings.
As scary as it was to hear these things as his son, I know that we broke the ice on the steps to recovery tonight. Even if some may feel that it is not my place to listen to these things as his son, he's confiding in me and I'll gladly do anything to help.
I'm looking forward to hearing from many of you about groups and professional help, as well as getting to know you all and your stories.
Thank you.
I'm joining this forum on behalf of my father. He was a Police Officer and retired 1 year ago due to disability.
As a little kid, I recall my dad experiencing symptoms of PTSD. I remember hearing him yelling commands in the shower, yelling at me for no reason, and sheltering himself from the world.
Tonight, as I am 24 years old and we live 1000 miles apart, we finally talked about it over the phone. I had always seen it and believed that he was a sufferer, but didn't do anything about it. After a major divorce and re-marriage with someone I'm not too fond of, we haven't been very genuine with each other until now. I won't go into graphic details, but he recalled the exact amount of dead people he's had to tend to (76), nearly killing a man, and various other exposures he's had to deal with. Nobody has understood him and he expressed that there were nights that, because of this, he had held a gun to his head contemplating suicide but couldn't do it because of my sister and I.
He mentioned that he was ready to die for his brothers and sisters, as were they ready to die for him. When it came to debriefing, he was always the one to ask "how are you feeling?" to every one else, yet he's pained that nobody ever asked him... until I did.
There's a lot more to the story that I won't go into details on. Ultimately, we feel very relieved to have had this conversation with each other. I don't recall the last time I had a genuine conversation with him.
I'm joining this forum with the hope of finding professional help or support groups that can help him cope because he is very troubled. I've had my own run in with it, but have had support from others, including him, and pulled through on top. He's gone all of these years alone though, with two completely oblivious wives (my mom and step mom) that didn't and don't validate his feelings.
As scary as it was to hear these things as his son, I know that we broke the ice on the steps to recovery tonight. Even if some may feel that it is not my place to listen to these things as his son, he's confiding in me and I'll gladly do anything to help.
I'm looking forward to hearing from many of you about groups and professional help, as well as getting to know you all and your stories.
Thank you.
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