Personality Disorders

[AU24K]

Scott; PTSD.
EODs; not sure of "background check" info; ya think PSTD would be "negative" on you...? I don't know...

My Friend, EVERYONE who serves experiences examples of PTSD.


Most cases do not require treatment or counselling.

It also may NOT be combat related on a "face to face basis," but.....

Think about it a little bit and you'll understand....

Should all veterans be precluded from owning weapons as civillians because of
possible negative PTSD implications?


Best,

Scott

 

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[Rebel - KGC]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I had a terrible, long day today and just got home. I'm going to respond to Onfire's questions first. After I write it I will start a seperate thread called "PTSD in Vets." Onfire has brought up one of the most important issues in mental illness today and it deserves its own thread. After that, I'll start answering questions. I have another long day ahead of me tomorrow so I apologize if I cannot get to your question. I'm giving myself two hours...start the timer.

AGREE with you on Vets & PTSD; what wife & I do, helping local vets AND families (Vicarious Trauma).

 

[EODsweeper]

My concern is because mine is diagnosed with the VA. Federal agency. Many veterans are not documented for their PTSD.

 

[EODsweeper]

Like mentioned earlier, not everyone seeks help in fear being ridiculed

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

My Friend, EVERYONE who serves experiences examples of PTSD.

It may NOT be combat related on a "face to face basis".....

Think about it a little bit and you'll understand....


Best,

Scott

AU is correct..... I never had bullets shot at me on the ground, but had SAM missiles shot at me while in B-52s, but my biggest stress IN USAF came from the cold war and my job required me knowing stuff I finally decided I no longer wanted to know... I basically got tired of sticking my head between my legs and kissing my butt goodbye....A lot of times we were very close to WW III (67-71) but the general population did not know anything about it... We had every B-52 in the country loaded with nukes and headed towards failsafe points over bearing sea and and alaska, luckily we never got the order to continue, but how many times can you play Russian Roulette before you lose?

 

[dieselram94]

Bill, thank you for the example. That is pretty much how I understood Bi-polar. I am really wondering how it is diagnosed.....does it fit a precise set of parameters or is it more of a long term observation? What are the treatments and how effective are the treatments? I have wondered about this for years.

Diesel,

Take this for what it's worth.....as a layman I've seen bipolar people first hand in some of our neighbors and circle of friends....

A lady who's been our neighbor for many years started acting in a strange way about 5 years or so ago....not sure what triggered it.....but in any event.....some days I'd pass her house and she'd be the happiest person in the world....cheerful and friendly with everyone.

Other days I'd walk by and she wouldn't even acknowledge my existence...so kind of like being on a roller coaster....either at the top of the world or down in the dumps...her and her hubby finally split up because he just couldn't handle all the highs and lows she would go through.

That's over simplifying things but it gives you a general idea.

I'm sure Crispin can give you a much better explanation when he's back on board.

Regards + HH

Bill

 

[Crispin]

EODs; look into herbs, too; DO NOT recommend "Mary Jane". I like St. John's Wort (2 pills), and try to reduce stressors in life. "Flash-backs" are HARDER to deal with, as it is related to EMOTIONAL PAIN (memories).

Avoid St. John's Wort! Rebel means well but this is a mistake. St. John's Wort is an effective antidepressant that has similiar mechanism to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs.) It is not monitored by the FDA. You do not know if the dose is accurate or if you are actually getting what they say is on the bottle. Most importantly, it can interact with many commonly prescribed medications to cause a serotonin syndrome! Very bad. I appreciate what you are saying Rebel, but St. John's Wort can be very harmful.

 

[SpiritRelic]

What y'all want to know about bi-polar disorder,I'll tell you from experience.Traits of bi-polar disorder.Does not get along with friends or family very well.Has a hard time maintaing work.Goes for extended periods without sleep,with high levels of energy.Struggles in relationships.Periods of severe depression.Hyper talk,or starting to talk fast.Suicide is very common with this disorder.Racing thoughts.Can not focus.Mania.Getting in trouble with the law.Drug and alcohol abuse to cover up the symptoms.There is also a seasonal type bi-polar disorder.Yes,that's right.These symptoms can be brought on by the weather.This is were the old saying comes from.You change with the weather.Sun light is involved with this condition.People have time clocks just like plants do.It is driven by the sun.If this internal time clock in a person is out of wack,long periods of gloomy weather with lack of sun can bring on this type of seasonal bi-polar disorder.This is why the most depressing day of the year for most people is around now,due to the short days and gloomy weather.We have a clock in us just like plants that respond to the clock and know when to bloom.The earth and other things around us has more to do with our behavior than one thinks.

 

[onfire]

AU is correct..... I never had bullets shot at me on the ground, but had SAM missiles shot at me while in B-52s, but my biggest stress IN USAF came from the cold war and my job required me knowing stuff I finally decided I no longer wanted to know... I basically got tired of sticking my head between my legs and kissing my butt goodbye....A lot of times we were very close to WW III (67-71) but the general population did not know anything about it... We had every B-52 in the country loaded with nukes and headed towards failsafe points over bearing sea and and alaska, luckily we never got the order to continue, but how many times can you play Russian Roulette before you lose?

Th were you "Death from above" crowd back in the 60's? earthquakes ain't crap till you feel thud

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Avoid St. John's Wort! Rebel means well but this is a mistake. St. John's Wort is an effective antidepressant that has similiar mechanism to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs.) It is not monitored by the FDA. You do not know if the dose is accurate or if you are actually getting what they say is on the bottle. Most importantly, it can interact with many commonly prescribed medications to cause a serotonin syndrome! Very bad. I appreciate what you are saying Rebel, but St. John's Wort can be very harmful.

Works for ME...

 

[AU24K]

AU is correct..... I never had bullets shot at me on the ground, but had SAM missiles shot at me while in B-52s, but my biggest stress IN USAF came from the cold war and my job required me knowing stuff I finally decided I no longer wanted to know... I basically got tired of sticking my head between my legs and kissing my butt goodbye....A lot of times we were very close to WW III (67-71) but the general population did not know anything about it... We had every B-52 in the country loaded with nukes and headed towards failsafe points over bearing sea and and alaska, luckily we never got the order to continue, but how many times can you play Russian Roulette before you lose?

My Fellow Vet,
I also served during the "cold war," and death was always just a minute away.

Although I cannot (still) disclose much of my service protecting a NATO nuclear missle base in Europe during the Carter Administration, I can say that if my post was aggressed by hostiles, I had 60 seconds to contact the SAT (Strategic Alert Team) and BAF (Back-up Alert Force) and selectively fire off my alloted 90 rounds, and then....


Damn helicopters....awake or asleep.....


Best,

Scott

(Link)

Personal



And now, may you all

Enjoy songs that I enjoyed from my time of service...

Because we have given you the right to do so!

Please Help a Veteran any and every time that you can!


​

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Avoid St. John's Wort! Rebel means well but this is a mistake. St. John's Wort is an effective antidepressant that has similiar mechanism to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs.) It is not monitored by the FDA. You do not know if the dose is accurate or if you are actually getting what they say is on the bottle. Most importantly, it can interact with many commonly prescribed medications to cause a serotonin syndrome! Very bad. I appreciate what you are saying Rebel, but St. John's Wort can be very harmful.

I found Scotch and soda with a twist of lemon and a tequila chaser works wonders for calming down.....

 

[bill from lachine]

EODsweeper,

With the crap that you and other vets went through.....I feel pretty strongly any ethical person would never dare to ridicule you or anyone else....but then again....if they do send them my way.

Regards + HH

Bill

Like mentioned earlier, not everyone seeks help in fear being ridiculed

 

[Rebel - KGC]

I found Scotch and soda with a twist of lemon and a tequila chaser works wonders for calming down.....

LOL! Don't drink... Primary Care Physician (PCP) took me off TWENTY ONE meds prescribed by UVA Hospital upon release; told me to go HERBAL... with St. John's Worts recommended among OTHERS (which I DID take). Take it as needed for over 20 years, now...

 

[bill from lachine]

Diesel,

Kind of getting into the medical side of things which is a bit out of my league.....I've read somewhere or other that on the very difficult cases they've even tried a combination of uppers and downers at the same time....they sort of stabilize and/or cancel each other out....to keep the patient more in the neutral zone than way up or way down.

Crispin hopefully can chime in with his take on it.....most of us have our highs/lows but usually fluctuates in a fairly narrow band.....versus bipolar which is way up or way down.

I'm sure there's medical tests/questionnaires that could quantify if someone has the condition or not.

Regards + HH

Bill

Bill, thank you for the example. That is pretty much how I understood Bi-polar. I am really wondering how it is diagnosed.....does it fit a precise set of parameters or is it more of a long term observation? What are the treatments and how effective are the treatments? I have wondered about this for years.

 

[releventchair]

Thank you vets for your service.
P.T.S.D. no stranger beyond the military. symptoms similar but cause and experience not . Should treatment if any be the same? Knowledge of it by those experiencing it a help. severity variations my only question. Meds may help but glad to be off them all .
Just don,t let me near morphine! The last to go took the highs and lows out of life. Just a steady line of not really emotion. Welcome life!.

 

[SpiritRelic]

LOL! Don't drink... Primary Physician took me off TWENTY ONE meds prescribed by UVA Hospital upon release, an told me to go HERBAL... with St. John's Worts recommended among others (which I DID take). Take it when needed for over 20 years, now...

Go herbal! That's the way i do it too.

 

[Crispin]

Bill, thank you for the example. That is pretty much how I understood Bi-polar. I am really wondering how it is diagnosed.....does it fit a precise set of parameters or is it more of a long term observation? What are the treatments and how effective are the treatments? I have wondered about this for years.

Thanks Dieselram...you had to ask about the most complicated to explain disorder in the DSM. I appreciate it. Everything spiritrelic said is correct or close to correct. Hold on to your hats again. Crispin's crash course to bipolar:

There are two types of bipolar. Bipolar type I and bipolar type II. For simplicity let us ignore bipolar type II. Go get yourself a piece of paper and draw a horizontal line across the page. On the left side label it depression. On the far right side label it mania. Half way the line make a hash mark and call it "normal." There is no such thing as normal but lets just use this as an average. Take each half of the line and halve it again (quarters on the whole line) and then divide them in half again (eighths on the whole line.) What you are looking at is the spectrum of emotions ranging from severe depression to severe mania. We all know what depression is. Mania is the exact opposite. Mania is what makes the bipolar I diagnosis. I will explain this in a bit.

Look at your line again. If you were to start at the "normal" point and go two notches to the left and two notches to the right then you would be looking at the "normal" spectrum of human emotion. People who do not have a mood disorder can have their mood fall anywhere in that range on any given day. If you meet an attractive girl and get her phone number then you will be way over on the right side. If your dog dies...way over on the left. Again, these are NORMAL emotions. They are not a disorder and do not need medication.

Look at your line again and go all the way to the last hash mark on the left. When people get to this point they are experiencing a Major Depressive Episode or a Major Depressive Episode associated with bipolar. Take your pencil and write the letters PONR underneath it. (I made this example up.) PONR stands for the point of no return. Treasure Hunter will tell us all what that means in military terms. However, I'm not talking about gas. I'm talking about chemicals in the brain. To the left of PONR is a GENETIC, CHEMICAL imbalance. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can cross back over that line without the help of medications or suffering through months and months of misery. This is a major depressive episode. You can find the symptoms in the DSM-IV-R.

Look at your line again and start going to the right. When you get to the last hash mark write the letters PONR below it. You guessed it. This is GENETIC, NEUROCHEMICAL mania and the very essence of bipolar. People with this disorder develop decreased need for sleep (less then a hour a night,) increased energy, rapid speech, flight of ideas, hypersexuality, increased spending, euphoria, and grandiosity. These people have dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine and several other neurotransmitters being pumped into their neural synapses at such a fast rate that it makes them psychotic. I have hundreds and hundreds of stories about these people. You do not see these people in society that much because they get hospitalized or arrested very quickly.

DieselRam: A lot of people and doctors confuse bipolar with borderline personality disorder. Borderline PD is not an appropriate discussion for an open forum; however, there is a HUGE difference. Night and day, black and white, fire and ice...pro and anti gun.

Sincerely,

Crispin

 

[Crispin]

I've been accused of being paranoid before because of my guns. There is a difference between those that are paronoid and those that are afraid. I may appear to be paranoid because I have guns to protect myself but, if someone to start busting down my door right now, I wouldn't be afraid. THAT'S the difference between an armed citzen and an unarmed citizen. (in mho)

PackerBacker: Many people think I am an expert on paranoia. You can decide for yourself. By my definition, wanting to own guns to protect yourself DOES NOT make you paranoid. Supporting the 2nd amendment DOES NOT make you paranoid. You are NOT paranoid. However, if you want to keep your guns because you believe the FBI follows your car to work, the CIA has cameras in your house, and all your phone calls are monitored by the Secret Service then, yeah...you are pretty paranoid. Of course, if that was the case then you would be in denial and disagree with me anyway. Kind of a Catch-22.

Sincerely, Crispin

 

[SpiritRelic]

Kind of what i said on page 5 right?Good job crispin.How much do you charge per hour?.i am lookin for a new shrink?I got arrested last month.But i am out in society quite often.Some people don't like it.Being hospitalized is not so bad.It's the rubber rooms that suck.I tried to talk this subject awhile back,but was cut off.