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I was just desperately trying to calm myself down and couldn't.

James Monk, US Air Force 1988 - 2011, talks about when he knew he needed to get help for PTSD.

Transcript

I went out on an ordinary day in a rush to get something done.

I actually had gone out to purchase a computer cable.

Went to the store and I was in a hurry,

and the first store I went to didn't have what I wanted,

the second I went to had what I wanted,

but of course it was a little more, and I was gradually

getting more and more frustrated with each stop.

And finally I found myself at Walmart

and walked out of the store empty-handed again,

and somebody had shoved a grocery cart into the side of the car.

And I just lost it right there in the parking lot.

Went home and probably shouldn't --

I definitely should not have even driven.

I was in a state that nobody should be behind the wheel

of a car, operating thousands of pounds of metal,

but I made it home and just went and laid down.

And the whole time, I was just desperately trying

to calm myself down and couldn't.

I remember feeling like I had climbed to the top

of a 100-foot tree in the middle of a wind storm

and was just hanging on for dear life.

I knew I never wanted to feel like that again.

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