Jason Brown's return home from a year long tour of duty in Iraq should have been happier. But there were nightmares, tension, the constant feeling of being on edge.
"I'd see things out of the corner of my eye, I'd see shadows," says the 29-year-old Army reservist, an engineering technician, who came home to Peoria in July 2007. "I'd be suspicious of things; they were out of place. I didn't sleep well."
He was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, an all-too-common issue among returning military personnel, but one that's not often acknowledged. PTSD can result in nightmares, sleeplessness, restlessness, anger, or an inability to trust others.
It can be triggered by any number of traumatic events, such as sexual or physical abuse, a violent crime, a dangerous event such as tornado or fire, or war. ....
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0810-health-ptsdaug10,0,1972069.story
