Sheepdog Tip of the Day, After Combat tip 57
The puppy might come for a visit after a single, significant, traumatic event. Robert Speer, an Arkansas State Trooper who is now in command of their state SWAT team, tells about when he had to kill a gunman in a desperate and explosive gunfight at point-blank range. He had difficulty sleeping for a few nights, but otherwise he was fine; at least he thought so until one evening a week later when he and his wife were watching his daughter at a swimming competition. "Maybe it was one of the starter's guns that set me off," he said. "All of a sudden out of the blue my heart started pounding, I began hyperventilating and I was drenched with sweat." His reaction was so powerful that his wife thought he was having a heart attack. This was a classic example of a powerful, post-combat response, commonly called a panic attack. Sometimes it is referred to as an anxiety attack, but that term is not appropriate. He was not feeling a little anxiety; the puppy inside his head was panicking! ... It is important that you understand that a visit from the puppy does not necessarily mean you have PTSD. Re-experiencing the event can be a normal reaction to an abnormal event. You need to make peace with the memory and get on with your life. PTSD, as you will see later, occurs when you try to flee from the memory.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Combat
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Additional Resources
For PTSD, Shepherd Resource Group.