Author: TeeJay

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:28 am

Dude. Before I start I just wanna say that being posted overseas is something I can’t get my head around. So you have every right to say "you have no idea what it’s like".

But I have a helluva lot of experience "throwing off" / blaming mental health issues, and rationalizing the continued need to get high because I was suffering from a diagnosed mental illness. "I need to feel high to feel normal". Now I look back on it I wasted a lot of good years because of that belief. I could spend ages picking apart all the fallacies in that belief because there’s a lot. For one it’s very rare to find any person who doesn’t feel a bit different or abnormal in some way. It is normal to not-feel-normal for most of the world.

As I said, I couldn’t understand the kinda shit you might have gone through posted overseas. But I sure as hell know what it’s like to wallow in self-pity, and let life get the better of you. And that’s exactly what you’re doing and I think part of you knows it.

Really all it is just a rationalisation to use. "I have PTSD from the military" I betya that line gets most people from questioning your denial. The old War Hero, true Patriot. Give him a break. Actually that’s a fucking gold line to get people from hassling you. I woulda really exploited that one. Hats off for that.

But while you’re telling that lie to yourself and the people around you to justify your continued use of drugs, you’re actually throwing away more and more of YOUR life. And you only have one life. This time you could be spending actually dealing with your PTSD, learning to live with it and even grow from it and becoming a stronger person. It’s a choice. And I firmly believe that.

Author: TeeJay

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:28 am

Dude. Before I start I just wanna say that being posted overseas is something I can’t get my head around. So you have every right to say "you have no idea what it’s like".

But I have a helluva lot of experience "throwing off" / blaming mental health issues, and rationalizing the continued need to get high because I was suffering from a diagnosed mental illness. "I need to feel high to feel normal". Now I look back on it I wasted a lot of good years because of that belief. I could spend ages picking apart all the fallacies in that belief because there’s a lot. For one it’s very rare to find any person who doesn’t feel a bit different or abnormal in some way. It is normal to not-feel-normal for most of the world.

As I said, I couldn’t understand the kinda shit you might have gone through posted overseas. But I sure as hell know what it’s like to wallow in self-pity, and let life get the better of you. And that’s exactly what you’re doing and I think part of you knows it.

Really all it is just a rationalisation to use. "I have PTSD from the military" I betya that line gets most people from questioning your denial. The old War Hero, true Patriot. Give him a break. Actually that’s a fucking gold line to get people from hassling you. I woulda really exploited that one. Hats off for that.

But while you’re telling that lie to yourself and the people around you to justify your continued use of drugs, you’re actually throwing away more and more of YOUR life. And you only have one life. This time you could be spending actually dealing with your PTSD, learning to live with it and even grow from it and becoming a stronger person. It’s a choice. And I firmly believe that.