Keep Pushing Forward: Conquering PTSD

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which McTernan suffers from, is a mental health problem that can occur after a traumatic event like a war, assault, or disaster. It’s normal to have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping after an upsetting event, but if symptoms last more than a few months, it may be PTSD. McTernan gave me permission to write about his experience with PTSD as he wants to get the word out to others, both military and civilian, that this disease could be related to all kinds of difficulty in their lives, and he wants them to know there is help available, and, yes, they can beat it. Maybe not wipe it out of their lives … but close. PTSD can cause rage over something trivial. It can also cause difficulty getting a job, problems on the job, and with relationships between co-workers or spouses. It can defeat you if you let it. Let’s listen to McTernan: “I didn’t know what to call it way back when I got it,” he says. “It was just a bad disease that needed taking care of, though I am not sure how well that worked in my case,” He slides that smile back onto his face. Then McTernan looks a little more serious than he has during our other talks. “In my case, I had problems with any position I held. I went to therapy. I had nightmares—not necessarily about the bail out and follow-on injuries—but just bad nightmares. I had to keep my brain working, and I was drinking a lot—way too much. But here is the kicker. I didn’t, or wouldn’t, relate the drinking to a disease, never associated it with PTSD. “What I want to tell other folks,” he adds, “is if you are having any of these difficulties that I have been fighting my way through, keep pushing yourself forward. Keep your brain active. Consider therapy and counseling. Work at it and you can beat it. The help is out there, people. Use it. The worst thing is to not recognize that much of your troubles may be PTSD.” And this author might add that is good advice from an exceptionally reliable source: a hero who fought his way through and ended up as Chief of Navigation Training for Joint Navigator Training at Mather AFB, California. So, thank you, Lt. Col. Myles McTernan, for your positive influence on an entire generation of young men and women (and a few of us older ones, too.)