well, that thread sounds about right! the way i always refer to my situation in the way i think makes sense to people who couldnt relate is that, my husband was in iraq for 12 months, was severely traumatized, an ive been in my own war for 3 years living with a husband with severe and chronic PTSD. the abuse is on and off and sometimes was months between flare ups. and the fear of not knowing what will set him off has definatly put me in the fight/flight mode constantly. but during the last episode in july, i had taken a heavy dose of a type of lorazepam and things really hit the fan. we had been fighting and i was just really wanting to become numb to his rage and anger. so i overdosed. and then i guess my mom had tried to call and when i didnt answer, the cops were called and he was arrested for domestic violence. i dont remember too much from that day or that week for that matter. but i do remember being strangled to the point i thought i was going to pass out. he says he got so angry at me and he thought i was trying to kill myself. so he got angry that i would even think about taking myself away from him and the kids. now that things are cooled down, and we talk about it, i told him i wasnt trying to kill myself, i was just trying to not feel the heartache and the pain of our fights.

so reading the thing about secondary PTSD completely makes sense and all carers should realize that it is real. and its something that should be treated with the same importance as the sufferers PTSD.

I am currently in counseling for the symtoms i have developed over the years from dealing with my husband. i am more irritable, i am easy to anger, mostly with my husband. i dont have flashbacks or anything like that, but i am having a really hard time letting go of some of the things he has done to me. so thats my focus right now is trying to learn to forgive and kind of forget. and like anthony said in the bottom of that, the past is brought up in an argument and that is something both my husband and i HAVE to work on if we really want to strive to get past this and healing. and that is one of my biggest faults when we argue...