PTSD: The War Within

Former Navy corpsman Ryan McNabb holds his son, Ayden, while his wife Mandy holds Payton outside his childhood home March 19, where they live with his parents in Winthrop Harbor, Ill. After two stints in Iraq, McNabb, now 29, works as an outreach coordinator for a Vet Center in suburban Chicago.

Former Navy corpsman Ryan McNabb feeds his 9-month-old son, Payton, as his wife, Mandy, and son, Ayden, watch. McNabb is still being treated for PTSD, and while Iraq is fresh in his memory, he's not eager to share war stories.

Ryan McNabb, right, waits to share his story about coping with post-traumatic stress disorder with 100 inactive ready reservists at Marine Headquarters at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Chicago.

Ryan McNabb works at his office at the Vets Center in Evanston, Ill. "When you're talking about PTSD, you don't want to admit it to anyone or it's, 'Oh, yeah, I got a little. I've got 1 percent.' ... In every good Mel Gibson movie, he has a blackout, he has cold sweats," McNabb says. "I didn't have that."

U.S. Army Maj. Jeff Hall poses with his family, from left, daughter, Tami; wife, Sheri; and daughter, Courtney; outside their post housing March 25, in Fort Riley, Kan. After his second tour in Iraq, Hall became so depressed that one day he lay on the ground and pointed a pistol at his head. Thoughts of his family kept him from pulling the trigger.

U.S. Army Maj. Jeff Hall kisses his wife goodbye after dinner as she leaves to help a fellow soldier's family while their daughter, Courtney, works on the computer at their home.

U.S. Army Maj. Jeff Hall watches as his wife writes on a white board at his Ft. Riley, Kan., office. Nearly 300,000 troops have served three, four or more times in Iraq or Afghanistan. And, records show, more than half of those currently at war are at least on their second tour.

U.S. Army Maj. Jeff Hall poses with one of the many drawings. Multiple tours, according to several studies, have been linked to stress, anxiety and PTSD, which is often marked by nightmares, flashbacks, angry outbursts, insomnia and social withdrawal.

Former U.S. Marine Sgt. Joe Callan, left, stands with his family, from left: wife, Katy, holding 5-month-old Max; and daughters, Zoe, and Scout on March 12, 2010, in Albuquerque, N.M. It was after his second and third tours in Iraq when Callan began wondering how long his luck would last, how many more months he could swerve around bombs buried in the dirt and duck mortars raining from the skies.

Former U.S. Marine Sgt. Joe Callan, center, removes his wife Katy's shoes as they begin their Friday routine of pizza and a movie with their girls, Scout, left, and Zoe at their home in Albuquerque, N.M.

Former U.S. Marine Sgt. Joe Callan, left, now an organizer for the group Iraq Veterans Against The War, smokes with other members, Romeo Rocha, center, and Micah Shaw before a group event-planning meeting in Albuquerque, N.M.

Former U.S. Marine Sgt. Joe Callan, now an organizer for the group Iraq Veterans Against The War, listens during a group event-planning meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. Callan, who was diagnosed with having PTSD, figures many of his Marine buddies are in the same boat. He has rebounded, though he's still adjusting to a life where he doesn't have to worry about ambushes, bombs, crowds — or what's behind him.