The remark from Open Eyes about our ptsd responses having been born in events that just kept on coming is something new for me, but when i hear it, I slap myself on the forehead and say, of course.

The physical combat wound heal, but the mental/emotional/psychological/brain wounds have no way of correcting themselves.

When my system is shattered by a sudden loud noise now, I am pretty much out of control insofar as a subsequent loud noise. My anger is at the top, no matter how much i hide it from others. My rage is just under the skin.

We can't put a splint or a cast on the brain and allow the wound to heal. And re-exposing the brain to the trauma doesn't seem like an intelligent approach. Would it make sense to keep whacking a broken leg to get it to heal? Of course, the professionals have studied all of this and who am I to say it doesn't work. But i can tell what it does seem like to me in my state of ignorance.

And the wounds that bring about the ptsd ... they are caused by dangers that just kept on coming. The explosions that wouldn't stop. The bullets that just kept buzzing past my ears. The wounding and killing of my soldiers. The smell of blood mingled with the mustiness of the jungle and the stinging aroma of gun smoke. A steady diet of terror well controlled now decides that it's time to surface.