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By Charlene Rubush, January 21, 2011 5:11 pm

Part Two

In this blog post I will be focusing on one of the most pervasive problems that combat vets with PTSD face.  Sleep disturbances and nightmares not only damage the veteran but detrimentally affect the spouse or partner.

When the veteran experiences loss of sleep or a nightmare, it is inevitable that those in close proximity will be awakened. It is often the spouse, who has to try to calm the veteran down after a bad dream. It is also the spouse who may be trying to fall asleep next to the veteran, yet be painfully aware that their loved one is having trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep.

It’s now well-known that chronic sleep deprivation can be deadly. In an article by Michael J. Breus, Ph. D. (published on WebMD) he notes some of the consequences of  sleep deprivation:

• Decreased performance and Alertness
• Memory and Cognitive Impairment
• Relationship Stresses (seperate bedrooms, conflicts, moodiness)
• Occupational Injury (sleepiness on the job)
• Automobile Injury (drowsy driving, slower reflexes)

Other Effects of Chronic Sleep Deprivation:

• High blood pressure
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Mental Impairment
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

I know personally the effects of chronic sleep deprivation. As my former husband’s ( a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran of two tours) drinking escalated, in the waning years of our nineteen-year marriage, it became nearly impossible to get a decent night’s sleep. When he’d roll into the house in the wee hours, he was usually full of macho bluster and bravado. Sometimes he’d be eager for a fight, other nights he’d be in an amourous mood. I never knew what to expect.  Inevitably, I rarely got a full night’s sleep, but still had to get up and go to work in the morning.

Many nights he’d wake the children. Some nights it would be with  hug and a kiss. Other nights he’d jar them out of bed and make them clean up their room in the middle of the night.

Now, some twenty-three years later, I still shudder at those memories. My chronic sleep deprivation eventually led to a full blown clinical depression.

So if you’re living under similar conditions, be aware of the dangers. Your physical, mental and emotional health is at stake. Reach out for help, and see if you can make some changes.

I’ll be writing more about clinical depression and how I was diagnosed and got better, in an upcoming post. Stay tuned.

For more info on chronic sleep deprivation go to:

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/important-sleep-habits

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By Charlene Rubush, January 17, 2011 4:30 pm

Part One: Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Spouses of Combat Veterans

It’s a dreary winter day, the kind of day when it’s tempting to sleep in. I was fortunate to be able to do just that this morning.

And when I woke up, thoughts came back to me of my other life. During my nineteen-year marriage to a Marine Corps Vietnam combat veteran (who I’ll refer to as Matt, for reasons of privacy) sleep was often in short supply.

He was never the type of husband-father to get up with our babies during the night. That was always left up to me. Before our first child was born, I worked as a hairdresser. Shortly after his birth, I went back to that job. It’s a hard, physical job, being on your feet  for hours on end, as well as bending over a shampoo bowl. It’s even harder to maintain your energy when you’ve had a night of interrupted sleep.

In the early years, after his return from Nam, Matt drank a lot. I had ascribed his excessive drinking to habit, and to his macho attitude. He loved to go out with his buddies, drink and raise hell.

At the time, I believed it was relatively harmless, and that he needed to “blow off steam” as a way to deal with his Nam experience, and as a means to try and ease back into civilian life.

But then the heavy drinking evolved to three to four nights a week. He would generally roll into bed in the wee hours. Rarely could I sleep, always worried where he was, unsure of his safety and wondering if he’d run over anybody while inebriated.

On some rare nights I’d fall asleep from sheer exhaustion. But inevitably, he would make his entrance to our bedroom,   immediately flip on the harsh overhead light, and shout at me to wake up. Then I was in for hours of listening to his stories of the evening, or his berating of me for my many inadequacies.

As I’ve now learned from study and experience, this behavior is not uncommon in those suffering the harmful effects of combat-related, untreated, unhealed PTSD.

I’ll be exploring this topic further in upcoming blog posts. Stay tuned.