[I]t is the injuries you cannot see that are beginning to worry the Pentagon.
"My nightmares are so intense I woke up one night with my hands round my fiancee's throat," says Lt Julian Goodrum.
"Another night she woke me up. I was really kicking and really getting violent in my sleep.
"So now I sleep on the couch until I can get my sleep, my nightmares, more under control."
Lt Goodrum is a veteran of two Gulf wars. He returned from the first a hero, from the second a suicidal wreck.
He suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD) and he is not alone.
More than 10,000 returnees from the Iraq war have sought help for a condition in which the mundane becomes a menace.
"The smell of diesel takes me back to Iraq," Lt Goodrum says.
"I am getting better with crowds, but still if it is a very confined space and I am totally surrounded I have issues with that.
"When I am in crowds I tend to watch people's hands."
No comments:
Post a Comment