Healing Hurts Too: My Klutsy Walk With Faith (Testimony Part 5)

People think war is hard, but healing afterward is often much worse.
I had come back from a year-long deployment to Iraq--seen some things, did some things--but the peace and quiet of ‘regular’ life didn’t settle my mind. I began to experience a slew of issues, from sleepless nights, dreams to being hyper vigilant and scared a lot--from silly stuff, doors slamming, kids yelling--things I should have been happy to see after a year away.
The Army unit I was with was eager to keep feeding the deployment beast, most of us in the division got stop-lossed or at least were made unavailable for reassignment, meaning there were plenty of people who would be kept in the Army for longer than their enlistment and were unable to get new assignments to other posts. All of it to keep the war going.
My memory suffered from a then-undiagnosed traumatic brain injury. I was depressed, anxious. It weighed heavily on me as I struggled with this time back.
“Enjoy it!” I would hear from my commanders and more senior comrades. “We’ll be deploying again before you know it.”
That didn’t help things either.
This is the story of the weeks and months after I returned from deployment--my struggles with PTSD and my brain injury. I document how my final few years in uniform played out, and my first steps into my life after being discharged from the service.
Most importantly, I talk about how I eventually found my way back to a faith community, this time without as much of the guilt and drama that drove me away before I enlisted.
-- Timestamps --
0:00 Intro
0:14 My Army unit wasn’t the best
2:33 PTSD symptoms and getting back to ‘normal’
6:22 Promoted! How my time in Army training saved my life
13:33 My last Army assignment in D.C.
15:00 Deciding to get help
18:25 Trying out church again...even tried dating a bit
20:08 Life beyond the military
22:21 What’s next for the channel

[@adrianschulte1978]

😭😭♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ Proud of you and your vulnerability. Love you, brother.

[@nightowlchristian6599]

Thanks, my man! Miss just being able to chill like #BackInTheDay