I was not descending in a plane, coming Home. I was watching an alien world as it ascended towards me - and one that I could never begin the process of readjusting to, because I knew that I would just as soon be returning to another world, whose normality was as alien to this home as I now was.

~ Jake Wood

Jake Wood Alien Alienated Combat Ptsd Coming Home Derealization Dissociated Dissociative Don T Belong Military Ptsd Not Fitting In Traumatized Troops War

My family says they are proud of me. Of course, I would rather hear this than the contrary, but I cannot say that I am proud of myself, so I find that I cannot 'talk about it'.

~ Jake Wood

Jake Wood Cannot Talk Combat Ptsd Hero Military Military Ptsd Soldier Traumatized Unspeakable War War Hero

The shrinks call it Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. I call it hell. The demons are waiting in each corner, ready to drag me back to the battlefield.- Puncture Wounds (2014)

~ James Coyne

James Coyne Civilian Ptsd Demons Diagnosis Hiding From The Past Mental Health Mental Illness Military Ptsd Personal Hell Psychiatrists Ptsd Ptsd Quotes Shrinks Terrified Traumatized

You are no longer human, with all those depths and highs and nuances of emotion that define you as a person.There is no feeling any more, because to feel any emotion would also be to beckon the overwhelming blackness from you. My mind has now locked all this down. And without any control of this self-defence mechanism my subconscious has operated. I do not feel any more.

~ Jake Wood

Jake Wood Combat Ptsd Dehumanization Dehumanized Dissociated Dissociation Dissociative Dissociative Ptsd Mental Health Military Ptsd No Longer Human Traumatized

My mother describes me as 'a real hero . . . just like your grandfather'. But I do not know what to do with this accolade for her son, other than let her have moment, or it helps her back here.

~ Jake Wood

Jake Wood Combat Ptsd Hero Military Ptsd Soldier War Hero