My personal view on PTSD (which includes having symptoms for years) is that it is an adaptation. Consider what the result is:
  • Ehanced startle reflex and instant capacity for violence (i.e. rapid response capacity)
  • Hyper-alertness (i.e. situational awareness)
  • Light sleep and disrupted sleep patterns (i.e. less easy to creep up on while asleep.)
  • Tendency to be unpredictable and make sudden changes of plan. (i.e. less predictable.)

All of those characteristics are survival adaptations when a person is hunted or at risk.

Those adaptations can be problematic when one returns to "normal society", and they can be very problematic if the person thinks there is something seriously wrong with them. The adaptation comes out when needed, for some it is harder to put away than for others.

My experience was that starting about 4 or 5 months after coming home for good, I began to have issues. My unconscious was in overdrive trying to find the threats so I could avoid them. But since I couldn't find any, that mechanism just kept amping up more. I suspect quite a few people start drinking or doing pot or whatever to calm down, but that just makes it worse.

What I recommend to people I talk to is first, do a few things to keep cool. Instead of fighting the impulse to lock down, go ahead if you have to. Skip the firearms unless you are in a real bad area, but keep some minor thing like a heavy flashlight on hand if it helps you sleep. Most of all, focus on reality testing and staying social. Don't withdraw, get out and do something. Doesn't have to be a lot of talk-talk unless a guy wants it. I never found talk "about it" helpful myself. But getting out cycling, or hiking, or doing some project together is. It can be very surreal being out there with "regular folks" for a while though. I've had that feeling for days sometimes like I'm walking around in someone else's life, almost a dream I'm having. The unconscious is like a 2 year old toddler inside, not terribly smart, and has to be shown or told clearly what is going on, that things are ok. It will work to say or do it, but it can take time. It takes time and work to bring out the PTSD adaptations when they are needed. It takes time and work to mellow later.

Aside from that, yeah, it's a change and you won't ever be the same again. That's just how it is. Things mellow out with time, and there are good things with the bad. For instance, I prevented a woman getting kidnapped around here because seeing that swift economy of motion of an experienced attacker set me off - bang.

So yes, it's real. Someone finding themselves revving up when society around them says they should be relaxed and out of the storm is, I think, much of the problem. Relax and understand this too will pass.