Hey Beezusfly,
I started a new thread for you so that you don't get lost in midst of another person's post. Welcome to HW. This is a great place for support and encouragement. It's certainly not crazy or unusual to feel a greater sense of comfort
opening up and sharing online. Not only does the internet allow a great number of people with similar experiences to come together and support each other, but it also provides
all of us with a certain sense of anonymity. Nobody knows who you really are, where you live, etc. We only know what you share.
You said that you're a veteran. Thank you for serving. PTSD is very common for those who have served and it can be a long process as far as working through your experiences. I highly recommend counseling as a way of working through the things that you've seen and experienced. I would also suggest (if you're comfortable with it) going through a military service such as ACS (Army Community Services) where you can get linked with a therapist that has experience with veterans. As great as they may be, a typical civilian therapist may struggle with appreciating the life of a person in the military.
There's also a service called
Military OneSource that can help connect you with practical resources (financial or legal advice, research, etc.) as well as counseling. It's essentially a referral service. It's free to service members and their families. You can look at their website if you're interested and the phone number is right on the homepage. Just click on the link I provided. I'm sure others will be along shortly to offer you some more support.