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I do remember when I was little he was always working.

Patricia Angstadt, Daughter of a Veteran with PTSD, talks about how PTSD affected her family.

Transcript

There were signs that, if I were a little older,

maybe I would have realized it.

For example, I remember my mom

complained about him getting up in the middle of the night

and he was soaking wet with his pajamas,

and she had to change sheets, and she kind of

complained about that, but not much

because I think she understood much better than I did.

But I do remember that when I was little,

he was always working, constantly working.

He had three jobs, and I remember thinking, "Oh my goodness,

my father's not going to be here when I'm older,

or when I'm in college, or when I have children.

He's not going to be around."

I'm lucky to have him still, he's 92 years old,

thank goodness, but I was always afraid

because he was always working.

And now I realize, as an adult and now knowing

something about posttraumatic stress syndrome,

that he was doing that to cope, that it was one of his

coping mechanisms that he was using

to help get him through this.

And they didn't ever spoke of it,

so I guess this was his way of coping.

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