"Sleepless" In Seattle

Until two months ago, I was without "normal" American TV. Yes, we lived here for 18 months without tv except what my father would tivo for us. Before that, in Germany, we only had German stations, so only watched EuroSport, CNN International (which is much better than any other news program I have encountered), and German-dubbed Pimp My Ride on MTV. It is crazy to watch commercials, esp. infomercials. I actually want to by the products they are hocking. Lately, I have been having a difficult time falling asleep, even though I am exhausted. The other night, I was just drifting off to sleep when I felt like I had been hit in the chest. I thought I had been shot. That's the problem with military spouses. We may not be "there", but we are still having some symptom of PTSD. I have nightmares of killing people, of people being killed, of being killed, of war, of soldiers thinking they are being killed or shot at. These dreams and images have a way of sneaking up on you. I don't watch violent movies at all. I try to take my mind off of everything at night, before I go to bed. Lately I have been drowning in the monotony of the election. I started to search some other channels (I can't really tell you what is out there other than news and kids programming). I have found that The Soup guy is absolutely hilarious. I also find Chelsea Lately quite entertaining. Anyway, I used to think I was one of the only ones having this problem. I have been digging deeper and I find that quite a few spouses have been having this same problem, as well as head aches and other physical symptoms. I have no idea what is being done about this. Well, there is ONE option I know of. I can go talk to a psych tech...a person with a high school degree and couple weeks of training. Thanks, but if I have more education than you, then I don't want your help with a psychological evaluation. Not that I would actually seek help for nightmares. I know better. They will suggest paxil. That will fix EVERYTHING, thank you. I have been through this before and at least I am getting some sleep. These kids exhaust me. Seriously, and I am grateful for it. If it weren't for them, I would probably be a wreck. Jackie's Strenght.