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I felt if I wasn't prepared, something bad would happen to me.

Laurent G. Taillefer II, US Army 2003 - 2006, talks about how he knew he had PTSD.

Transcript

I have a kit in the back of my car that I keep for

emergency purposes, and I think it's safe for anybody

to keep an emergency kit in their car,

you know, maybe a first-aid kit.

Mine includes MREs, extra water, five extra gallons of fuel.

I have a portable stove, I have fire starters, and I have --

oh my goodness, I have enough to camp in the back

of my truck at all times because I don't feel safe,

because I don't feel safe in the world, and the fact is

I don't feel safe because I am pegged at a trauma level

from Iraq that has made me feel like if I'm not prepared,

something bad will happen to me.

If I don't have everything squared away

in just the right way and cleaned and ready for combat,

something bad is going to happen to me.

It may be important to know that I haven't been in combat

in years, and years, and years already, so the fact that I

roll around with all of this equipment seems pointless.

But since going through Cognitive Processing Therapy,

my way of dealing with this is that now if I see someone

stopped on the side of the road, I try to help.

I have tools, I have all this knowledge that the Army gave me,

and I try to help as many people as I can.

And that's my way of dealing with the safety issue of

having this box at the back of truck, is I try to give back.

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