At home, but not at peace: A soldier's struggle with PTSD

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Army Spc. Brandon Garrison is one among thousands of troops experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as they return from war zones. The 21-year-old from northeastern Kansas also is part of a growing number of servicemembers whose invisible unseen have been compromised in a system that’s supposed to take care of them.


At home, but not at peace: A soldier's struggle with PTSD
By Tracy Burton, Special to Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, March 30, 2008

Army Spc. Brandon Garrison looks fine. He pulls his wife, Lily, close. He gives her a quick kiss on the cheek and wraps his hand over her stomach, carrying their first child.

Inside, Garrison fights a rage that consumes most of his days since returning from 17 months of combat in Afghanistan. It’s a demon that shows no mercy and interrupts even simple routines like eating and sleeping. At any moment, halfway through a football game or in the middle of the night, he can lose himself to this evil.

This is his war now. A war that started on a battlefield a half a world away and has now embedded itself in his mind. Through nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety and fear, he battles this beast each day.

Garrison is among thousands of troops experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, as they return from Afghanistan or Iraq. The 21-year-old from northeastern Kansas is also part of a growing number of servicemembers whose well-being has been compromised in a system that’s supposed to take care of them.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53683