I'm 26 and spent almost two of the last 6 years in Iraq. I also have a past that leaves something to be desired. Therapy is helpful I guess but I think I'm stuck ni that "it gets worse before it gets better" stage. PTSD from combat and abuse although two very different experiences are one in the same. It's a war, a never ending battle to rid your mind of what you can't forget. Those who are weak and those are strong do survive, war has no color lines or racial boundaries. Sometimes surviving the nightmares is harder than anything else. I wake up almost every night from something that my mind won't let me forget.