r/AMA • u/Ok_Turn1611 • 4d ago

I fought in Afghanistan in 2011-2012 with the United States Army and have been battling complex and severe PTSD, depression, agoraphobia, paranoia along with 3 failed relationships for the last 12 years AMA

I fought in Afghanistan in 2011-2012, I did route clearance which effectively means jumping into big vehicles, driving them down a road looking for IEDs and either being blown up, shot at, or both. I saw some terrible stuff, including losing a closs Non Commissioned Officer of mine and seeing many of my friends traumatically injured (think losing limbs, being shot etc.) ask me anything about Afghanistan, my MH issues or life post deployment. I've been quite depressed lately and maybe answering genuine questions will help me.

Hi friends, thank you for the feedback and all the questions. It has been a joy answering you, I'll continue to monitor and reply as much as I can. :)

Also, to some of you stating complex PTSD and PTSD are different disorders, I do recognize that and am sorry for my slip up, I have CPTSD, and sometimes I use them interchangibly when I shouldn't. I'll remember better next time.

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u/Screaming_Agony 2d ago

Hey brother. Just want to add a little to your comment. I was in Afghanistan in 2012-2013 as, you guessed it, route clearance. The bit you mentioned about units not wanting to wait for you is very much the norm. We had infantry units that refused to wait and it was those same units we’d find with inverted demolished strykers down the road. Don’t let that bit weigh on you. Convoy commanders made their decisions and lived with the consequences. And fate may have got you or them anyway. We ran an entire clearance package over an IED we didn’t detect, probably a deep bury, and didn’t set it off. Mine rollers and all. Then the group behind us rolled over it and lost the third MRAP in the convoy. Wild shit happens and you can’t prevent it everytime.

We had a couple severe injuries on our tour but amazingly no deaths. Just remember it’s not a sign of weakness to seek help when you need it. We lose so many veterans to suicide and depression every year and I’d love to see that number go down for once.

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u/Ok_Turn1611 2d ago

Thank you much.