Introduction
I come from a nice middle class family. My parents are still married (high school sweethearts). I have a wonderful older sister and brother in law with a baby niece. I have a pretty, intelligent and successful long term girlfriend who I’m probably going to marry. I'm a successful IT professional. What I'm not is a combat or military veteran, so you wouldn't think someone like me would ever be diagnosed with PTSD and that handling the after effects would be easy peasy.
Wrong. I was, in 2012, after a 6 month panic attack that resulted in my being hospitalized at age 31 with what doctors thought was a major heart attack. It wasn't that - it was stress. That's it - my heart is fine. I'm in terrific shape. I look the part. But stress can and will kill you, as my best friend and brother from another mother found out the hard way when he died in 2014 at age 39. My hope is that by writing things out, I can better deal with some of the after effects of PTSD that are and apparently will be ongoing until the day I die, and maybe give others some helpful tips as to how I've learned to keep my stress levels low and to better manage my relationships at work, at home and in life.