Wtf is my dad's problem??

[ManyPearTree]

My dad is a retired paratrooper in the army with over 16 ys in active service with the 82 airborne... Hes been acting very strange.. Like last week he had a very close squad mate commit suicide from the loss of his wife. Now everytime He hears something related to guns, military, war.. he starts having flash backs from when he was parachuting in panama. Then he goes into a semi depression for a day then he gets all pissed of if anything annoying occurs. I know hes sad bout his friend but hes mentaly unstable. I dont know how to react to his behavior...

[Sugaree]

Most people that have served in the armed forces typically get flashbacks and become depressed/angry and it's normal. In his subconcious, he probably still thinks that he's in Panama fighting. He may not realize that he's having the flashbacks but he is. He becomes depressed because he probably saw a bunch of stuff that no one should EVER see.

If he ever gets like this, then leave him to his own power. If he gets angry or depressed then leave him alone. He's obviously gone to a state of mind that all he can think about is what happened.

My grandfather has flashbacks from when he was in Vietnam and it's not a very nice thing to see but it's normal and I leave him to his own power. He's seen things that he doesn't want to talk about. He just wants them out of his mind. He even said that if he didn't have a family, he would have killed himself.

So, be lucky that your father has a son and family. If he didn't, he would be much worse then he is now.

[byee]

PTSD. Post traumatic stress disorder. The residual trauma and shock of being in combat, which takes the form of flashbacks, anxiety, panic, depression, and unfortunately, in some cases, suicide. This is a well documented clinical syndrome. In your dad's case, perhaps triggered by the suicide of his friend.

You and your mom should call either the VA, or a private doctor and get him some help ASAP.