Jim,
I am a Vietnam Veteran who served with the 9th Infantry Division of 1967. I have been attending PTSD meetings for almost ten years, and these meetings have not changed my status. How long do I have to attend these meetings? I do not get any results from these meetings.
Reply:
I don't have an answer for that. I hear such things from many Vietnam vets and as I'm not a psychologist and as I don't know you personally, I'm at a bit of a loss to answer you.
I can tell you that my best friend locally is a Marine RVN vet. He saw a fair amount of combat and later in life he developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma...an agent orange cancer. He had no PTSD issues prior to his illness but with the cancer came all the fears and memories of his year in the jungles and soon after he was having a lot of mental health issues.
His doctors advised him to get some psych treatment and he eventually hooked up at his "Vet Center" to participate in the monthly group meetings. He also has appointments with the VA Clinic psychiatrist every now and then for one on one appointments.
He and I have talked about what he may be getting from all this. Some days he doesn't think he gets much for his troubles. He's had a number of chemos, remissions, recurrences and even a bone marrow transplant for his cancer. He is in remission now, the longest one yet so he's hopeful that his n-Hl won't kill him anytime soon. With remission comes a lessening of his PTSD symptoms so he wonders if he should stop attending?
His decision to continue attending is because he thinks that overall he's better with the sessions than he would be without. He figures that even if he can't see a huge difference in how he feels today, if he hadn't been attending all along he may be in a lot worse shape. It's a little like having frequent oil changes on your car. You may be able to get away without the bother and expense of regular maintenance. But...would you be willing to take that risk?
You may not believe that you get any measurable benefit from attendance and participation. I'd be concerned that maybe you are getting something but it's subtle enough that it can't be easily quantified. What happens to you if you take that away?
Finally...you're an old pro at all this by now. I hope that by attending and participating you'll be there for the tens of thousands of younger vets who are starting their journey and having to face up to and cope with the problems they're bringing home with them. Your presence will mean a lot to the younger vets. Make the most of that.
I'd advise that you stay with it.