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What I was feeling wasn't important enough.

Sherie Warner, US Army 2001 - 2007, talks about why she didn't ask for help with her PTSD right away.

Transcript

I just kept telling myself I was OK,

and it was OK, and I was going to be fine.

And I would have two good days and then a bad day.

And then three good days and two bad days.

And I just kept waiting for it to stop.

I kept waiting for it to go away.

And I knew I couldn't have PTSD because

there were so many people who had gone through

more than I had gone through, who had had

firsthand experience of things that were horrific

in comparison to what I experienced.

So I couldn't possibly have PTSD because I didn't

deserve to have PTSD, and how dare I try and get help

when there are so many people who needed it more than I did.

And I just kept telling myself that what I was feeling wasn't

important enough or big enough or valid enough

to deserve the help.

And I did that for probably about a year.

I just kept saying it wasn't enough.

And I still have my days when I think,

"I don't have PTSD, I don't have PTSD."

And I have a psychiatrist who tells me I do, I've had three

therapists who've said it, I know my medication helps me,

and I still don't want to believe it, I still don't want to

accept it, I still don't feel like what I did was big enough

to have been impacted in the way I've been impacted.

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