|
VA Watchdog Stuff...
cups, hats, shirts...
click on item to order
and support the site.
Be sure to get all four
VA Watchdog dot Org
RSS feeds --
Daily VA
News Flashes
House CVA
Veterans' News
Senate CVA
Veterans' News
VA Press
Releases
Download your
free copy of the
2008 VA benefits
handbook here...
|
Printer-Friendly Version
LIVING WITH PTSD: A WIFE'S PERSPECTIVE -- "He would
have panic attacks and bursts of anger. He never
physically
abused me, but verbally...it came out of the
blue."
Chuck and Carol Chapman, who live in
Whitewater, have lived with his post-traumatic stress disorder, or
PTSD, for 20 years, since his retirement from the U.S. Marine Corps.
(photo: MARIJA B. VADER | FREE PRESS) |
For more about veterans and PTSD, use the VA
Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=ptsd&op=and
Story here...
http://www.gjfreepress.com/article/2008
0718/COMMUNITY_NEWS/699353590/1076&parentprofile=-1
Story below:
-------------------------
Living with PTSD: A wife's perspective
By BY Marija B. Vader
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER,
Carol and Chuck Chapman thought they’d
start their lives all over again once he retired from the Marine Corps
after nearly 30 years of service.
They moved to Mesa County and bought a spread on Reeder Mesa for their
quarter horses. There were lots of good times.
But when he retired, his post-traumatic stress disorder came to life.
 As
a Marine, he started out as a machine gunner and experienced the tense Bay
of Pigs Invasion in 1961. After he re-enlisted, he moved into jet
mechanics, maintaining the flight line on aircraft carriers. He witnessed
horrific sights, but Carol never heard the details.
“He saw a lot of trauma in his life, but when he would come home, he never
carried that home with him. He was stuffing that inside,” Carol said.
“When he retired, that’s when it started to come out.”
Her husband became withdrawn, isolated, tense, quiet and depressed. He
avoided large groups of people. Even at church, every door that opened and
closed, he looked.
“He would have panic attacks and bursts of anger,” Carol recalled. “He
never physically abused me, but verbally ... it came out of the blue.”
The Chapmans’ learning curve of PTSD began as Chuck started being treated
for depression at the Grand Junction Veterans Administration Hospital.
Meanwhile, Carol was doing her best to cope.
When Chuck was active military, Carol’s support had been other military
wives. But with retirement, that went away.
“You walk on eggshells. The stress involved in trying to be there for him,
care and help him ... I went overboard,” she said. “They need to be
independent. That was very difficult for me because he was my life.
“I thought I had failed because I couldn’t help him.”
“I didn’t want to get close to my wife or my kids ... because if something
happened to them ...” Chuck said.
Gerry Mitchell, a VA counselor, helped both learn to cope with his PTSD.
“He’s helped us thorough so much,” Carol said. “Do you know how difficult
it is to communicate?
“Our relationship and what it was based on had to be totally rebuilt,” she
said. They had to “reach bottom” first then begin again.
“Love is respecting one another and caring for one another,” she said. She
had to ask herself: “Do I love you enough to stay with you through this?”
“We did a lot of suffering through that time. It really tests your love,”
she said.
So they relied heavily on their faith and kept going to counseling at the
VA Hospital.
“My faith is very important to me, and Chuck too,” she said. The couple
will celebrate 50 years of marriage on Christmas Day.
The Chapmans attended the weekly presentations on PTSD held Wednesday
nights at the VA hospital. This week’s emphasis was on the effects of PTSD
on family members.
Carol would like to start a support group for wives of veterans with PTSD.
They will be at Wednesday’s presentation at the VA Hospital; veterans who
have experienced PTSD will give a panel discussion. The gathering starts
at 5:30 p.m. in Building 6. Anyone with questions can call 242-0731, ext.
2407.
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
Don't forget to read all of today's VA
News Flashes (click here)
Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage
email Larry
(go
back to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page) |
Military
Medical Malpractice
Legal
Network
VA Watchdog Stuff...
cups, hats, shirts...
click on item to order
and support the site.
|
