My brother-in-law had been in the Viet Nam War. When my sister brought him to see the fireworks on the 4th of July, he started yelling 'snipers!' And dove under the blanket, freaking out. When she took him into this deli restaurant that was filled with all these little old people, crowded, in lines, he freaked out and started screaming he was going to 'level the place!'. That was definitely PTSD.

I was diagnosed with it, which surprised me, because I don't flip out like that. I had a traumatic experience with my father's death when I was very young. I think I got the diagnosis because I told the psychiatrist how I have recurring nightmares about my old house and can't go back to my home town, get anxiety attacks just thinking about it. Also, I felt like I became a new person once I moved from there, like I left that child behind.

When I told my family I got diagnosed with PTSD, they had no reaction at all and never bring it up.