Therapy helping Utah veteran deal with old demons

Since Paul Pearson began treatment in 2005 for post-traumatic stress disorder, Aline Pearson has been slowly getting back some semblance of the husband she married in 1973.

"He had a very good sense of humor," Aline said about Paul. "He liked to do things and go places."

Nine months in Vietnam near the end of the war changed Paul but not right away, not until after a close friend serving a second tour there was killed.

Paul's disorder, commonly referred to as PTSD, took control of him, disabled his more likable traits and spilled over into his family life, which for years has suffered with Paul through PTSD's many dark and destructive manifestations.

Paul, 54, and Aline, 53, now living in Kearns, don't want veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to miss the signs of PTSD or ignore them. If anything, a more pronounced form of PTSD like Paul's gets worse if left untreated.

"It's not something that goes away," said Susan Hollenbeck, a licensed clinical social worker who is helping the Pearsons. "There's no cure for it."

Paul has had to leave many crowded restaurants where the "hyper-vigilance" symptom of his PTSD means his mind is on high alert for an enemy presence, an instinct from Vietnam he can't shake. If he doesn't feel safe, if there's no quick way out, he has to flee, right away.

In Vietnam, the "unseen" enemy could have been almost any Vietnamese person, unfriendly or not, who was nearby. Paul said U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are experiencing the same kind of war and are equally at risk of having PTSD.

Estimates are that about one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans may show some signs of PTSD. A national report last year said that the number of veterans seeking help at Veterans Affairs walk-in Vet Centers for PTSD rose from 4,500 to over 9,000 between October 2005 and June 2006. Hollenbeck said it's hard to tell just how many of today's veterans actually have PTSD and that the number may be much higher than people think.

A nightmare suppressed

If it weren't for Hollenbeck, the Pearsons might still be on the same depressing, debilitating path they have been on for most of the past 30 years.

While Paul's disorder is the only military-related case of PTSD that Hollenbeck has handled in her private practice, it ranks as one of the worst she's seen. After the death of his friend in Vietnam, Paul's metamorphosis of character started with nightmares, which he still has all too often.