[Troy]

So why do I come here to talk about war stuff and ptsd? It's way more fun to talk about the lovely things in life. I'm becoming more and more convinced to put the lid back on these little boxes of memories and nail them shut.

Never has a sex chat brought about the same kind of emotional collapse as we find with touching these memories.

Is it the general conclusion that we must remember all of this stuff to get over it? Ugh.

Why am I here? I don't know crap about this.
T.

[(JD)]

Fortunately one does not have to recall ALL of it to be able to set it aside. Through therapy and therapeutic review of memories and triggers and those things that go bump in the night, one retrains the brain in where memories, traumatic memories that never were filed appropriately, go. After working through one or more, that's enough for the brain to realize how to file all of similar memories...and it begins it's work. (Unfortunately, that is also done during sleep time, dreaming, and can make things rougher for a bit.)
You know, the men and women of the first wars had PTSD though of course no one knew it, and then didn't call it by that name. Most of them stuffed it. Many of them were engaged in war so much that the close-knit teams of aggression against the enemy allowed for release of much of it. But back then they all did everything as a unit. It wasn't until the Vietnam Offensive that soldiers etc became individual in their movements through rank and TDYs and leaves. That's when the PTSD became more obvious, when the very safety and support of comrades was non-existent for military personnel.
I really think it's the trained military psychologists who put those with PTSD through the paces, that work wonders with this disorder. That's assuming they have the training and the time to do so.

[Troy]

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[(JD)]

I almost posted something but didn't...so I am not far behind you.