my boyfriend, Jonathon, is going into the Air Force very soon. He is pretty much prepared for anything that comes his way and wants to get deployed to protect his country.
Thats all good and dandy, and i support him but i pretty much know he is going to come back with PTS for this reason..... he is already suffering from it.
When Jonathon was 14 he dealt alot of drugs (he has since turned his life around, i'm happy to say). One of the deals went bad, a kid pulled out a gun and shot at Jon. Luckily he missed, but Jon still has occasional nightmares. They will come for a month and then leave. He is in one of these periods now and it is putting a strain on our relationship. He wanted to take a "break" so he could drink guilt free to be able to forget the nightmares and sleep.

What am i getting myself into? the chances of him getting PTS is ten times higher because of this, isn't it?

has he been diagnosed?

Yes, by the therapist he used to see. She would ask him to talk about the nightmares and he would. He told me whenever he talks about them they get worse each time. Sometimes he gets shot, other times his best friends get shot. He'll wake up, realize where he is and go back to sleep- then the cycle starts over.
One time he told me he woke up with a gun in his friend's face after having a nightmare and his friend trying to calm him down. You can see why i worry for him....

Don't take this the wrong way but I think you are jumping the gun a little bit here. It's great to be prepared but at the same time do you think that predicting he will have PTSD will help you or help him in what he is about to face. I think it is best to take it day by day and go from there. Trying to predict something like that will only be harmful.

i'm not taking that the wrong way :) i haven't told him what i've been thinking, it was more of a theory and i respect your opinion

please don't take this the wrong way but how is he able to enlist if he has a diagnosis already?

please don't take this the wrong way but how is he able to enlist if he has a diagnosis already?

Agreed. I mean its great that he wants to join! Don't get me wrong, but they will see his records I think.