When most people think about post traumatic stress, they usually think about military veterans who have served in horrific circumstances. I do not want to belittle their experiences in any way. But, we must also acknowledge that many people who never served in the military still have experienced things that cause post traumatic stress.
I have mentioned before that Richard has no memory of the accident itself or anything after the accident until about two months later. He has pieced together a "reality" that may be very far from what actually happened. We have no way of knowing. We do know that he has a tendency to "fill in the blanks" for himself. I am told that people who suffered severe trauma, especially with a brain injury, often suffer from PTSD. I am also told that there are psychotherapies and drug therapies that can help in these situations. I have never found someone who could help us. I have honestly been to many, many doctors and specialists and no one has EVER had an answer to our issues. I am not sure if it is because there are so many issues that it is hard to know where to start, or if there are just no options. I doubt that there are no options, but at this point, I am frustrated with trying find help.
Richard's PTSD is mostly evident while riding in a car. I have said before that he no longer drives, but even as a passenger, he will over-react to things around him. He jumps if he thinks that there is a cause for concern. He will stomp on an imaginary brake pedal. He will make audible noises. It causes a great deal of anxiety for the both of us when we go places, especially places around town. It scares me because I am not expecting it. I know that you are thinking that by this time, I should be expecting it, but I am honestly surprised every time.
I also have some anxiety caused by the accident in that I will not drive on snowy roads or during any kind of bad weather conditions. If am going to be making a trip, especially in the winter, I will check the forcast and adjust my travel plans to make sure that I have good roads. Even when my daughter was expected to give birth, I went to stay near her for a month ahead of time just so that I would not have to travel in snow at the last minute. I have driven in snow since the accident mostly because I lived in an area that had a lot of snow, but I moved from that area purposely to avoid that type of climate. I'm sure that if there is a treatment out there that works, I could benefits from it as well.
What I do know is that post-traumatic stress is very real and very emotionally crippling. Since Richard seems to associate car travel with his (which is pretty understandable), it makes local travel very stressful. In addition, he has anxiety attacks and sleep issues. His anxiety is usually caused by the feeling that he can't breath. This is not helped by the fact that he sleeps with a Bi-PAP machine with a mask that almost completely covers his face. These are all issues that are part of our daily lives. Getting up early for any reason is a real hardship for him. There are actually very few hours in a 24 hour period during which at least one of us is not awake. On a positive note, it does give both of us time during which we are basically "alone" in the house while the other one sleeps. Doctors appointments are planned accordingly. When you combine these issues and the other ones mentioned earlier, you can see what a big impact this might have on our family life. We are always looking for answers to these ongoing challenges.
Here is a link to a wikipedia article that might answer some of your questions about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_and_trauma
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