When Mike East returned from a tour of duty with the Army’s 42nd Division Artillery Unit in Iraq, “we expected him to be happy to be back home,” his sister Shana East said.
“I saw him struggling with the ?little things’ that we all deal with on a daily basis, getting frustrated easily, and having extreme mood swings,” she said.
“He didn’t want to talk to anyone about what he was feeling.”
East found her brother’s behavior consistent with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, a personally debilitating condition that affects more than 15% of veterans, according to some studies.
“I began to believe that PTSD was stigmatized within the military and possibly made it harder for people to advance in their military careers,” East said.
“So I set out to investigate this topic, with the ultimate hope of breaking down this stigma and to help other families who are going through the same situation.”
