Warren is a Vietnam veteran who suffered for 35 years with PTSD, receiving limited help from the VA and using anti-depressants which didn’t work. He self-medicated with drugs, alcohol, and abuse of crack and cocaine. He used these drugs to avoid going to sleep because of the terrifying dreams he experienced.
During the Iraq war he saw a flyer advertising treatment for PTSD at the University of Pennsylvania and began the program. Part of the therapy involved voluntarily recalling the scenes that caused his PTSD. He now feels as if he has more control over the terrifying flashbacks he used to experience and over the physical symptoms such as sweating and a rapid heart rate.
Warren still finds his condition a challenge but he has made huge strides since he began therapy and describes the years following it as the best of his life.
