Stories You Can Relate To From Not Alone

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I've been learning about PTSD lately and thought I'd share with you some of the great resources I've been finding online. First I want to say thank you to all the random people I've called the past few days asking questions. I appreciated their help, even though after a few calls I just didn't want to talk to anyone anymore. It was information overload and it felt like information buckshot flying around my head.

As always, hearing the stories of other military spouses really connected with me the most. So I want to introduce you to NotAlone.Com. It's a gathering place for service members and families to talk about about life after deployment. It's amazing how even words online can be so comforting when you realize that these people understand what you are experiencing and you can connect with their stories.

Yesterday I listened to two interviews from Not Alone Family Stories. Both women shared things that I could intimately relate to like finding yourself planning out what you will do if your spouse dies from the initial two men at the door visit to the funeral. I do believe this is a coping mechanism and although it feels strange, it's a way to plot out and then put away a fear that can gnaw at you. Somehow for we women, if the worst thing in the world happens, if we have a plan, it somehow doesn't haunt us quite so much.

First I read Lily Burana's story. Although I have never been suicidal, I found her story so interesting in how a couple deals with two cases of PTSD in the same house. So much of the beginning of her story I could really relate to, her introduction and isolation from the military culture, her thoughts and feelings as her husband deployed, etc.

Then I read Chaplain's wife, Kristin Henderson's story. Because my husband and I have only done one deployment together, I thought her explanations about how each deployment is different were so interesting. I could relate to a lot of her emotions about deployment, during and after.

There are stories from mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and spouses there, definitely something for everyone. I feel like hearing these stories helped me feel calm today and have faith that we will continue to grow and progress through post deployment. While the road may get bumpy there is complete hope that we can traverse the bumps and come out even better on the other side.

Have you visited Not Alone? Do you have a favorite resource, story or section from there? Have you ever attended one of their online support groups?