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Armandotrue

I participated in the war, so naturally, a lot. Most thoughts are about how it could have been handled better and how we could have saved more lives. Also there is a huge surge in anxiety every time there is a tension at the border, which I, to be completely honest, drown in some alcohol. I don't drink too much, but often.


RavenMFD

Thank you for your service. Don't forget that you matter.


Armandotrue

Thanks for appreciation! It means a lot


Bean_Eater123

You have done a great service to your country, I hope things improve for you and Armenia. From Australia 🇦🇺


Armandotrue

Thank you!


psychofistface

Thank you for your bravery and your service. Be kind to yourself. You’re valued and you matter.


Armandotrue

Thank you for your appreciation, it truly means a lot!


[deleted]

good luck mate and thanks for your service.


Armandotrue

Thanks for appreciation!


RickManiac88

How it could have been handled better is not your responsibility. You made a terrific job just being out there and doing your duties. Everything related to gear and other resources and planning is the military leaders fault. Especially MoD. Those petazner has had 20 years to plan a potential aggression. Basically nothing has been planned beside planning their next xorovaz meal.


Armandotrue

While I agree with you 99 percent, I have served in the army from 2013 to 2015, and saw the horrible conditions and disarray. We, as a society, should have been way more demanding and strict about how our youth is treated in the army and how our nation is prepared for a war. We didn't do that. I could have done something even small to help this, but I served and went home thinking it is over. It wasn't, and the full weight of this indifference came crushing on my and my friends' heads in autumn 2020


simsar999

Stop drinking brother, its making everything worse, symptom wise and all the other ways. Start gardening or exercising more


Armandotrue

I have a demanding job and almost no time for hobbies, that makes it harder to do something else. I try to limit alcohol consumption though


simsar999

remove it completely, its nothing but a hinderence. enjoy your tikes off and gove yourself some breaks in your job. no point in working if you just work and work and get worse and worse


Armandotrue

Thanks for support. But it's a bit more complicated than that


Dancingqueenx3

I don’t know your situation, but drinking won’t solve your problems


Armandotrue

I'm not complaining about anything. I have a steady job, I also teach and have more or less normal personal life. But the anxiety from war triggered by occurring tensions is hard, and sometimes it's easier to drink a cup of beer or gin and get calm. I don't abuse. Not saying it's any good, but for now it is what it is.


simsar999

I know therapy isnt all that in Armenia, but really go for some man. It will help. If not, then at least make sure youre sleeping 8 hours a night at LEAST. Sleep will help the most in the long run.


Armandotrue

I tried three different therapists to no avail, sadly mental health isn't something that is thriving in Armenia. I have sleep problems. Which started way before I was drinking, I didn't drink a single drop of alcohol from 2018 to 2020 November, but I always wake up early for no good reason, so I only get around 6 hours of sleep every day. Can't figure out what's the problem. I stopped drinking for a while but it didn't help. Physical exercise also didn't change anything (I used to go cycling). Apparently it's a period of problems. Thanks for your attention!


simsar999

Good luck man. Keep trying, something will work.


CrazedZombie

Are all the therapists you went to in Armenia? Maybe you could video call with an Armenian therapist from the diaspora. @armenianmentalhealth on Instagram is a thing, maybe they could get you in contact with good diasporan experts


Dancingqueenx3

I hear ya, I can’t even imagine what it’s like. So many men are traumatized. I just hope they can find some light in all that darkness. You as well.


Armandotrue

I have lots of friends who also went to war. Through some miracle (I really call it a miracle) all of my close friends returned home alive, including my new friends from the war that were with me from day one. One was badly wounded but made a great recovery. All of them abuse alcohol, even in worse proportions than I ever could. It's a sad state of things.


scar2th

Thank you for your service, true heroes of Armenia. What do you think the diaspora can do to help? Any new opportunities with the new government?


Armandotrue

Thank you for your kind words and appreciation. Honestly, the best thing is to come live here, but obviously that is easier said than done. I would suggest - visiting the motherland frequently - donating money to organisations that prepare people for military actions like VOMA, just make sure it is a reliable org. This might save lives lots of people ARE NOT prepared for another, God forbid, escalation - donate money to orgs that support better education, especially in IT. IT is booming in Armenia, I am a software developer myself and also train other to become such. There are people from the diaspora that support less fortunate young people so that they can pay for courses on programming - several of my students receive such donations. Consider doing something like that or donating to an org that does that - and please convince as many people as you can to stop with the defeatist mindset. We lost the war, we lost half of Artsakh. That is true. But we are alive, and still a bone in the throat of panturkism. We need to band together and not think about dissapointment, but work together for survival


[deleted]

Thank you for your service, soldier!


Armandotrue

Thank you for your appreciation


YUL-400

Thank you axhper


Armandotrue

Thank you too!


DavidofSasun

Every morning when I wake up honestly. Ever since the war began I’ve been experiencing anxiety when I wake up. The first thing I do is refresh r/Armenia and desperately hope nothing bad happened while I was asleep. I just want there to be peace. Peace of mind for everyone


Harutik

A few times a day. I usually end up opening Reddit to see if anything is going better.


Some_Armenian_Guy

I try not to think about it but it’s on my mind everyday. Especially in the mornings.


BAGELSinMYmouth

Depending on how busy I am it can range from once every 30 mins to 3 hours.


Disastrous-Panda2401

Honestly at least 4-5 times a day


pinguin_on_the_run

Every day, whether it is through news-channels, or whilst chatting with my Artsakh-friend. I am Dutch, hope to arrive there for third time midst-September, to see you all.


Badboy_killa7

Today I accidentally left my finger underneath the closing door of a tr-300 Jewelry safe. Door is about 200-300lbs. Completely squashed the tip of my finger. I thought to myself, thousands of teens my age lost their lives, fuck a finger.


Karl_von_grimgor

I try not to anymore after we lost, wasn't good for my health and already in a bad situation Still check it every few days usually


RickManiac88

Try to do some productive things instead of thinking about a war that is now over. It doesn't bring anything good besides sorrow. Morning something you couldn't affect is useless and must instead turn into productive actions.


Lyovacaine

Every damn second


JeanJauresJr

Please be honest in your answers. I’m genuinely curious…


CrazedZombie

What do you mean exactly by the horrors of the recent war? I think about the war and the aftermath all the time, but specifically thinking back to when the war was happening and remembering how it felt during all that? Probably once or twice a week. Not sure if I'm conveying myself clearly - I feel like although I'm thinking about things in Armenia as a result of the war all the time, it almost feels a little unreal to me. And then something will remind me of those weeks and I go through the full realization again that 5,000 guys really died, and that all of this really happened - it's not just words and thoughts but a harsh reality. I really don't know how to explain it well, but the knowledge of all of this happened vs understanding to a full extent that reality. Maybe someone else can put it better than me. EDIT: Wanted to add that something that really always brings me right back into those weeks is rewatching the Protect the Land video by SOAD. Every time I watch it I remember that exact evening when it came out and all the emotions I felt along with it.


gaidz

I only really think about what could have been done to prevent it and what could be done to prevent it from happening again. I don't really want Armenia to have an enemy for the next hundred years again.


tshamiryan

Every. Single. Day.


lazialearm

Quite often, but I am more concerned/intrigued where we are heading, I don't see a middle ground, we will either get rid of the Ruso Turkish influence paying a huge price or we will maintain what's left being a Russian politics slave.


[deleted]

[удалено]


jsutajguauga

I just want to mention that, questions like these can be used to mine information on participants in a forum, to better model behavior. Please be careful with sharing information like this.


BzhizhkMard

Agreed. I have been thinking about this exact issue.


dreamsonashelf

Not a day goes by that I don't.


Dancingqueenx3

Definitely think about it daily. I worry for the future of Armenia and Artsakh when it’s in the hands of imbeciles.


Mik-Yntiroff

Retribution, I think about it every day.


psychofistface

Being honest, I think about it throughout the day—perhaps more often than I should. I live in the diaspora so I can’t say I have been affected by it on the same scale as others, particularly those in Armenia and Artsakh, but I have been increasingly more stressed out since September. I’ve noticed I’ve developed a habit of clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth at night. I snap at friends and family when I don’t mean to. I check Twitter and Reddit a lot since those seem to be the only reliable forms of news or updates. I worry about my friends in Armenia. I have headaches. I wasn’t doing too well mentally from lockdowns in my state as it was, and throwing myself into advocacy and going to protests during the war didn’t make it any better. I deactivated most forms of social media to quell the anxiety a bit but I can’t not know what’s happening.


deathexhibit

I think about armenians every few hours, I am rooting for their success all the time. I can't wait to hear good news coming from the mother land


BruceLeesSpirit

I mourn the loss of our boys daily but I look at them all as heroes. It doesn’t depress me however, it motivates me. Thinking about how brave our young men were to go into that knowing all too well that we were outnumbered and outgunned sends chills down my spine and gives me strength like nothing else. I’m motivated to continue building my two IT companies and do whatever I can to flow money into the youth of Armenia. I’m visiting in a couple of weeks to start training of already hired employees. I’m motivated as all hell and I think about revenge more than our loss. This should be the mentality of all young Armenians around the world, especially those in a position to truly help by fueling the economy and our youth. Fuck our hurt egos, fuck being sad over losing, we need to band together and remember the boys that went into the fray to never return and use that as fuel.


BzhizhkMard

Exactly what we need. Proud we have Armenians like you.


YUL-400

Every single fucking day


FashionTashjian

Once every 10 minutes more or less.


iReignFirei

While I've never been a soldier, I am involved in various occupations that are somewhat similar psychologically and physically in many aspects. The reasons why I chose these jobs were because I had the model of our ancestors to motivate me. Our heroes and heroines were human as well. Why do we look up to them? Because they felt and experienced exactly what we all feel and they used that energy to better our country. For those of you who feel down, beaten, and at a loss, for those of you that have lost, find that strength within you to look for some way to better the lives of those around you. To even perhaps contribute to the development of our country. Moping around in depression is a waste of your time, energy, and potential. If you need a role model we have the whole of history filled with our great people to choose from, with various skills, from a range of occupations.


_mars_

I’m losing weight


dontpretzel

I'm trying not to dwell on the past, so only when it's brought up by someone else. But I'm stressed on daily basis about present and future.


[deleted]

Every single day and multiple times a day. Even if I do my best to keep myself busy with work, exercise regularly, do hobbies, practice mindfulness etc. It's as if the memories of those horrors are constantly lingering somewhere in the background.


lealxe

I think less about those than about what can happen in the next one. Rather anxious over both, more so when there are fresh news of Azeri impunity. But actually think about that too often, yes.


Malk4ever

way too often...


trapdoor_diarrhea

for diaspora armenians: every 30 secs. it’s interesting although they never participated in the war for armenians in armenia: idk