PTSD – Billy Kluge

Post-traumatic stress disorder is the war after the war. When returning home from combat many veterans such as Caleb Vines suffer from massive anxiety and paranoia. There is a minuscule amount of information on this disorder making it hard to diagnose and near impossible to cure. The best help the doctors could provide was a dog that would tackle him if he got too upset. Even while asleep Caleb can suddenly feel he is back in the battle field, overwhelmed with the stress of being killed.   Although not dealing with memories from combat Caleb’s wife, Brannan, and his daughter, Katie, have been showing symptoms of PTSD. The disease is contagious.

Second hand PTSD is as equally traumatizing to its victim as first hand PTSD. As result of living with a veteran with PTSD the stress of the battlefield transfers to others. Brannan Vines has picked up most of the symptoms of her husband such as hyper awareness, hyper vigilance, and paranoia. Her disease has progressed to the point where on occasion she has trouble remembering how to do laundry.  Children are also effected by second hand PTSD. Katie Vines has been noticed mirroring her parents’ irrational behavior. She often gets in trouble for behavior issues at school such as spitting on others. For someone of such a young age it is not normal to feel as much rage as she does. It is a fight that the family must deal with together. It is as if the war has followed Caleb home and now his family is living with it.