Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the ‘new’ buzzword for anxiety and stress related illnesses, an article I read very recently in an English newspaper (a free one) said it affects a lot of ex military personnel, like soldiers for instance. It said that PTSD is a time bomb waiting to happen to people involved in the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq and not enough is being done to help these people suffering from trauma; I suppose the situation of PTSD will be much higher in the US because of its bigger involvement in both conflicts.

The same article said that we, the British, lost 255 troops in the Falklands war but 264 have gone on since to commit suicide, there was a similar trend amongst Gulf War veterans. Unless you’re able to read individual case histories, it’s impossible to know what severe anxieties would trigger these formerly healthy people to take such drastic action, is it what they saw and experienced during these conflicts that they can’t shake off? Or is it an acquired sense of purposelessness once back in civilian life? A lot of people respond well to living a regimented life in the military and enjoy the feelings of camaraderie with their ‘mates.’ I would think that anyone who’s had to go in and clean up after a suicide bombing would have a real cause to develop PTSD; I wonder how many abattoir workers develop it? I strongly suspect that I wouldn’t last five minutes in either of these situations.

Any one who enjoys being alive, even if their life is full of trauma like mine, (I’m full to bursting with social anxiety and circumstantial depression) will have a healthy respect for death and will want to put this most traumatic of all events off for as long as possible. I’ve never been exposed to bomb blasts or seeing people I was close to blown apart in front of me, but I have lived a very socially isolated life and suffered lots of rejections and failures, and the emotional pain of these traumas is as severe as feeling as though your insides are being ripped out and you’re falling down a bottomless pit of despair. But they say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? Maybe mentally but not physically, my body is now worn out from all the misery I’ve endured. But they also say that hope springs eternal, and on a good day this is true. Boo hoo, boo hoo!