My condolences
To shed light, I’m currently reading a fictional book called “The Drifter” by Nick Petrie that delves on the subject. The lead character is a very capable man in the vain of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher who served a number of tours in both the Gulf and Afghanistan. Upon mustering out back into civilian life he develop a condition he would call “White noise” whenever he was in a building or in a crowed environment. At first it was a feeling of unease and a jittery stomach that later manifested to chest tightening, a racing heart, sweats and headaches. He had no explanation but part of the soldiers’ culture was to man-up and not admit to any problems with the shrinks as part of the mustering out process. A sympathetic shrink told him off the record that what he was experiencing was panic attacks from a now overly sensitive “Fight or flight” reflex. A useful reaction we all have to help keep us alive but now the body’s reacting to a perceived threat that’s not there. Stress effects manifest itself in different ways, his was claustrophobia. Physical damage is difficult but stress effects are no less real and in many cases harder to live with because you can’t see them.
