Well, I called today Madness Monday because when I got home, you could tell that my husband hadn't taken his medication today. He was angry. As soon as I got home he started yelling. I was already having a bad day and really didn't need to come home to this. But I guess that is what happens when you are married to a veteran with PTSD. I know inside that this is his PTSD talking, but his words still hurt.
Anger is one of the symptoms of PTSD. I found an article on how to help a family member with PTSD and it talks about anger.
Anger is one of the symptoms of PTSD. I found an article on how to help a family member with PTSD and it talks about anger.
My husband lying on couch not caring about anything else going on. What did I do when it happened?
The first thing that I did was nothing. I didn't want to say anything back to make him even angrier. I told myself that this is not the real him. This is his PTSD acting out and he really doesn't mean what he is saying. That's hard to do when you are already on the verge of crying. I had to reassure myself that this was a normal symptom of PTSD, so I googled it. I already knew that it was, but at the moment i was feeling weak, so looking it up reassured me that this is OK. Here is a quote from the website that I found information on about anger. If you click on the quote it will take you to the site.
"Your family member may feel angry about many things. Anger is a normal reaction to trauma, but it can hurt relationships and make it hard to think clearly. Anger also can be frightening."
Here's another website that actually has veterans talking about anger and irritability and what they did in order to help themselves.
symptoms/anger-irritability
The Worst Part.
When my husband gets very depressed, frustrated and doesn't take his medicine, he gets to the, what i call, "I don't care" phase. It's really bad because he seriously doesn't care about anything. He shuts down all his emotions to the point where he doesn't feel anything. I really do not like this phase because you can never win. No matter what you say, you are not going to win, because of course, he doesn't care. His exact words tonight were, "don’t you understand that I don’t care about anything.” At this point he is ready to just give up and let everything go. This really puts more stress onto me. I know that he isn't at the point of suicide, all he needs is to take his medication and things will be better. But I need to coax him into taking it and then I have to deal with everything else until he is out of his mood. Usually when he is in this mood, he just lays on the couch or hides in his room.
The good thing is, if he takes his medicine, he will be better in about 40 min.
If you are experiencing anger or irritability, what can you do about it right away?
This will take you to the Veterans Affairs website.
The first thing that I did was nothing. I didn't want to say anything back to make him even angrier. I told myself that this is not the real him. This is his PTSD acting out and he really doesn't mean what he is saying. That's hard to do when you are already on the verge of crying. I had to reassure myself that this was a normal symptom of PTSD, so I googled it. I already knew that it was, but at the moment i was feeling weak, so looking it up reassured me that this is OK. Here is a quote from the website that I found information on about anger. If you click on the quote it will take you to the site.
"Your family member may feel angry about many things. Anger is a normal reaction to trauma, but it can hurt relationships and make it hard to think clearly. Anger also can be frightening."
Here's another website that actually has veterans talking about anger and irritability and what they did in order to help themselves.
symptoms/anger-irritability
The Worst Part.
When my husband gets very depressed, frustrated and doesn't take his medicine, he gets to the, what i call, "I don't care" phase. It's really bad because he seriously doesn't care about anything. He shuts down all his emotions to the point where he doesn't feel anything. I really do not like this phase because you can never win. No matter what you say, you are not going to win, because of course, he doesn't care. His exact words tonight were, "don’t you understand that I don’t care about anything.” At this point he is ready to just give up and let everything go. This really puts more stress onto me. I know that he isn't at the point of suicide, all he needs is to take his medication and things will be better. But I need to coax him into taking it and then I have to deal with everything else until he is out of his mood. Usually when he is in this mood, he just lays on the couch or hides in his room.
The good thing is, if he takes his medicine, he will be better in about 40 min.
If you are experiencing anger or irritability, what can you do about it right away?
This will take you to the Veterans Affairs website.
