Thank you Mayo Clinic for this informative website. Our son is a Marine who has returned from Iraq and while I thank God everyday that he returned physically intact I realize that mentally he has been damaged, so I have been reading and trying to put together resources...as a parent that's what you do.

I am the mother of a iraqi freedom fighter vet. For two years we have chased the VA Doctors for more answers to the why PTSD/TBI is so prevalent and nothing being done to really help these people. Our son served on the border as a customs agent(?) he was a SEABEA. He had not had any realy training in what he was thrown into in this new assignment. The area our son was in had at one time been a DUMP SITE old shells, old bombs from desert storm era buried there and a military site built on top. This site at the time our son was there was again used to explode old ammo of every nature and kind, new and old. He has been diagnosed with PTSD/TBI by the Military Drs. He was released from service because he was BROKE and no longer of use to the military. SEVER HEADACHES, DIZZY TO THE POINT OF STAGGERING, THEN LAST MONTH AFTER COLLAPSING ON THE FLOOR IN HIS HOME, THE VETERNS HOSPITAL FOUND A BB SIZED ANEURSYM IN THE BRAIN. HE IS LOOSING HIS HEARING AND HAS LOST ALL HEARING IN ONE EAR. HE IS ON MEDICATION FOR DIZZINESS, FOR HEADACHES. ANEURSYM IN THE BRAIN, MY GOD WE KNOW THERE IS NOTHING NOW THAT CAN HELP OUR SON. WHO IS MARRIED AND HAS TWO CHILDREN WHO FACE A FUTURE WITHOUT THEIR DAD, AS HE NO LONGER FEELS SAFE TO BE THERE FOR THEM, TO PARTICIPATE AS AN ACTIVE DADDY. SO IT IS A DAILY RITUAL OF MEDICATIONS AND IF THEY DONT RELEIVE A TRIP TO THE VA HOSPITAL 75 MILES FOR A PAIN SHOT. THIS IS 2008, YOU WOULD THINK THE VA WOULD GET CURRENT AND NOT USE OUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS TO EXPERIMEN

THIS IS THE MOSTY UNHELPFULL SITE IN THE WEB. THERE IS NOTHING PERTAINING TO THE AFFECTS IT CAUSES THE INDIVIDUAL. HOW CAN I LEArn about something you know "nothing" about thanks for the waSTE OF TIME

being a viet nam combat vet it upsets me that {it}not being a popular conflict the news media and others forget that ptsd has been around since ww1 through today!!! it should be time for the gov the va the medical socity to untie there hands and get and look out side the box.

i was married to a vietnam veteran for 24 years, and we had 3 sons. i believe because of his ptsd from the war my sons and i are also affected by the problems. years of abbuse , drinkink drugs and womanicing my husband put as all throug hell. he now is remarried and under alot of dr. treatment with medication. i wish my children dident have to go throug all the missery because they never forgave their dad for the abbuse they sufferd. i am from eurupe and had nobody to turn to, so i stayed married till my yougest so gratuated. i wish now i had left years before. my exhusband now recieves disability from the army, and i wish my boys could be compensated somehow also for all the stress they endured.

i am also the mother of a 22 year old son serving in iraq. i pray that he comes back not only alive but mentally and emotionally as intact as he can be. even before he left i began telling him to not only pray but also to talk, talk to whoever he needs to talk to, but don't keep it in. his unit suffered a suicide in january. a guy in his early 30s who was homeless prior to enlisting. a really nice guy who was quiet and a bit overweight. really helpful, friendly guy according to my son. but his nco's constantly belittled him about his weight, made cracks about his personality. what chance do these young guys have if the very men leading them tear them down in the middle of a combat zone? tearing them down is supposed to be done as part of basic training, then they are built back up and prepared for duty.i actually haven't had a problem watching any movies about this war. until this weekend when i watched "in the valley of elah." God Bless the USA should now be GOD HELP THE U

i was in combat for three tours of duty in vietnam. i have had a claim with the veterans administration since 1968. there coment to me is prove it. i am now a senior and lifelong ptsd along with senior health issues equals very difficult golden years. i wish some would help me and others like me. jak

I am a Mother who has a 22 year old son seving in Iraq. I wanted to know why there are not more outlits for our troops? Why they fear to talk to counslers for help because they might be dismissed of duties if they think they might have a mental problem. Well it makes no sense to me and others. They are there to free up others yet they can't free up their thoughts and spirits. This has to change they need help now later is to late.

when i first went into the united states army none if the non-commissioned officers rank e-6 and above or commissioned officers had any idea what post traumatic stress disorder even existed why??