In an article in today's Bangor Daily News, from Bangor, Maine, Michael Uhl, Ph.D., a writer and charter member of Veterans for Peace, as well as the Disabled Veterans of America, speaks about his own experience coming to terms with PTSD, as a Vietnam veteran.
Says Uhl, "In my own experience, PTSD is an insipid disease, one which I went to great lengths to deny in my own life for decades. Denial, in fact, was my biggest enemy, in the sense that I failed to grasp for years that PTSD, perhaps all mental illness, has a life of its own, and is not subject to conscious regulation like the normal ups and downs most people experience.
"When I realized that PTSD often controlled me, and not the other way around, I was able to finally confront my condition, and learn how to better cope with and manage my symptoms."
Because the article is in part about proposed cutbacks to the VA's budget and what that will mean to veteran's care, Uhl continues, "Without the safety net provided by the VA, that would not have been possible."
