The use (abuse) of drugs and/or alcohol is quite common among those that suffer from PTSD and prior usage doesn't matter at all. The drugs and/or alcohol can provide a temporary escape from the severe depression that PTSD creates. Personally, for example, I found the depression to occur mostly when I was at home alone, generally tired, and often before going to in bed. To avoid this I'd take speed (meth or other forms) so that I wasn't tired but instead in "hyper-mode" and it prevented the symptom of depression and when I finally "burnt out" I was so tired that I went to sleep immediately eliminating the timeframe when the depression set in. It would have made no difference whether I'd taken speed before enduring combat or not because the use was directly related to the avoidance of the PTSD symptom after the experience of combat.
There's something else that also occurs in many of those suffering PTSD that is troubling. In the combat environment the person can build a "wall" or barrier that insulates and protects them from the serious negative effects of combat and it, by necessity, must be a very strong barrier or wall. The problem is that like any wall it prevents the extremes of both the bad and the good from entering. After the veteran returns home that wall remains and it prevents the veteran from being able to have the close personal relationships, most importantly close personal friendships, with people and what the PTSD sufferer needs the most are close personal friendships that give them strength in overcoming the depression. The "wall" is so strong the veteran can't break through it and even being around someone that was a very close personal friend before the veteran went to war becomes literally impossible. The veteran literally shuts down when around those that they really love and care about the most often not even able to carry on a simple conversation about something like the weather. It is a brutal barrier that can literally leave the veteran broken down after being around someone, that above all others, they should be able to talk with but they can't even do that. This doesn't affect their "unimportant" relationships with people such as causal friendships that don't really matter but it does prevent new close friendships from existing. Additionally when it's an important friendship previously established that can actually provide strength to the veteran there is a wall that just can't be overcome. Effectively the veteran is preventing the very thing they need most and that's the strength of close personal relationships that can help them overcome the symptoms of PTSD that they have no ability to overcome on their own. It is this same wall that all too often results in the breakdown of marriages because the veteran simply can't endure being around the person that they really love the most and their spouse simply can't deal with that. This is why those that say some veterans are "weak" is pure BS. It isn't the veteran but in some cases, from the outside, someone is able to create a crack in this wall and actually reach the veteran. The veteran cannot break out from inside the wall but someone outside, if they're persistent enough, can break in. That's a huge benefit for the veteran but it doesn't always happen and, in fact, doesn't seem to happen all that often and those that try to break-in from the outside must be able to handle the fact that the veteran is literally pushing them away because of the 'wall' they built for protection during combat. It is very hard for me to explain but to both know that you really need someone and to be completely unable to be with them at the same time can be devastating. That wall never goes away and it always remains a barrier. In the over 45 years since I returned from combat I've only formed one close relationship, with my wife, and she's responsible for it because she persisted in spite of the PTSD and she create the crack in the wall. There was no way that I could have escaped that wall then or even today but she managed to get inside of it and she gives me strength that I really don't have on my own. Many never find that "other" person and because of that many finally give up and choose to die because no one really has the strength to endure PTSD on their own. Being totally alone, with no one that you're close to and finally losing any hope of being close to anyone, can be unendurable and even someone that doesn't have PTSD might be able to understand that.
Clinical Trial for PTSD Treatment with Ecstasy Ingredient Soon to Begin... Trial for PTSD Treatment with Ecstasy Ingredient to Open Soon Jan 26, 2017 | A program for a treatment that uses an ingredient found in Ecstasy to treat PTSD may begin processing applications next month.
Study: Can marijuana improve PTSD symptoms for veterans? http://www.stripes.com/news/study-can-marijuana-improve-ptsd-symptoms-for-veterans-1.427271 As a veteran that's suffered from PTSD since returning from the Vietnam War, that didn't even know what PTSD was for decades even after the VA knew about it, admitted it, and then didn't tell the veterans suffering from it, I only know that marijuana works. Does it "alleviate the suffering or just mask it?" I'm not sure that this makes much of a difference because both are preferable to not doing anything.
How can a caregiver go about understanding PTSD in veterans?... Help for Caretakers: Understanding PTSD in Veterans Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is one of the invisible wounds of war often discussed in popular culture. But it's also a very real diagnosis. How can a caregiver go about understanding PTSD in veterans? What are the symptoms, and what can families do about PTSD?
I visited the Vet Center eight years after I came home and noticed I wasn't the same as I had been. For one thing, I nearly strangled my brother when briefly to my mind, he was a hostile stranger. I told him it was an accident and he believed me because he was just showing off in front of his girl friend when he tried to kneel me before he left for his second tour in Viet Nam. The Vet Center advisor said I disturbed him because of all of the violence I had seen without aid or comfort from anyone. I decided only I could help myself and I did. I have never done drugs, smoked, or drunk. I have nothing to do with the VA and I am still in good health. I don't like deep personal relationships and I love excitement. Music is as close to a drug I take.
Uncle Ferd willin' to be a lab rat... Volunteers Needed for Clinical Trial of Marijuana for PTSD Symptoms Feb 10, 2017 | WASHINGTON Researchers started this week the first-ever clinical trial of marijuana for treating the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans.
New York legalizes medical marijuana for PTSD... Veterans Key as Surge of States OK Medical Pot for PTSD November 26, 2017 — It was a telling setting for a decision on whether post-traumatic stress disorder patients could use medical marijuana.
