The Work After Military Retirement:
Moving Past PTSD Symptoms

Military veterans are honored and credited for their bravery and sacrifice. The shock and stress of military service can be unimaginable. After experiencing a life-threatening event, many service members come home to their families feeling “different” and may even spend the rest of their lives feeling this way. If these feelings and symptoms are ignored, they do not go away, they may just simmer below the surface. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD symptoms can await many military personnel who had been looking forward to a peaceful retirement after their many years of service.

What are Some Symptoms of PTSD?

It is not always clear why some individuals are at higher risk of developing PTSD than the others. What is certain, however, is that trauma can be very powerful, particularly for those who have witnessed or experienced a greater number of life-threatening events. Symptoms of PTSD do not always surface immediately after experiencing a traumatic event.

Adjusting to life outside the military can be difficult. It can be doubly hard if you’re living with the lingering symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. This may cause you recurring, intrusive memories or flashbacks of traumatic events, negative thoughts, mood changes, extreme avoidance of people, things, or situations associated with bad memories, and/or hyper-arousal or edginess. In extreme cases, thoughts of harming oneself or others may persist. Many of the symptoms even include the same adrenaline-quick reflexes that helped you survive while on duty. It can be unnerving to have these responses in an otherwise safe situation.

Recovery from PTSD is Possible

Admitting to having symptoms of PTSD is not a sign of weakness. As a soldier, you may have been taught to camouflage pain, however, this may no longer be of benefit to you. Though you may feel isolated, there is no reason to feel alone.

Turn to Carolina Counseling Services – Fuquay-Varina, NC for help. We believe that, as a veteran, you deserve to live happily, free from the shock and stress you’ve been through. Count on the licensed independent contracted therapists to help you find the relief you deserve. Call Carolina Counseling Services – Fuquay-Varina, NC today.

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