PTSD and the Silent Female Veteran

(This is a multiple part story where I will be sharing my story as a military member and what serving my country cost me.)

PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in female veterans is often overlooked, especially if we were not in a combat zone. I was recently diagnosed by my therapist after several years of seeing her for anxiety, depression and severe periods of feeling dread. I decided to share my story after I read about female veterans who were moms but had committed suicide. They looked successful on the outside and had been out the military for a number of years. But there was something there, lurking under the surface that none of us saw but it was something only they could feel.

1993 — I was a single mom with a baby and was constantly threatened by my Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) that she would have my baby sent back to my parents if I did not do things she wanted me to do. She signed me up to volunteer for things I had no time to do with a baby. As an E-3, I was forced to work 12hr night shifts.

I had to hire a babysitter, I did not know, to watch my child at night and was sleep deprived during the day because I was up with her all day when I got off work. Oftentimes, I had to pay my daycare provider late fees because my NCO felt the need to hold random briefings after our shift was over at 6am. This negatively impacted…