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I felt like I was weak minded.

Joe Duarte, US Army 2002 - 2006, talks about why he didn't ask for help with his PTSD right away.

Transcript

My dad was very, he had this very macho attitude.

He's tough, nothing can break him, nothing can hurt him,

and I kind of admired that.

And so growing up, I always, I wanted to be the best,

I wanted to be the toughest, I chose a job in the military

where it put me right in the line of fire.

And when it came time to, when my wife would tell me

that I would benefit from therapy, I took it as if,

I took it as if she was calling me that I wasn't,

that I wasn't right in the head

and that I needed somebody else to fix me

and that I felt, like, helpless,

and I felt like, like I was weak-minded.

And I wasn't, at all.

I was the opposite of weak-minded,

and so I took it to offense in a sense that, you know,

I'm a tough guy, and I don't need you to tell me to go there,

and I don't need somebody telling me anything,

I can kind of fix myself.

Or not even necessarily fix myself,

but that there's nothing wrong with me.

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