They're mothers, wives and daughters. But they're also soldiers who served in combat zones and struggle with their war-time experiences after they return home.
New research shows women are twice as likely to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder than men.
For Army Sergeant Megan Krause the battlefield is still with her. She served as a combat medic and struggles with the dilemmas she faced.
"You're driving down the road something looks like trash and it turns out to be a bomb and it blows up one of your Humvees," she said. "Should I have been able to save them? Or should they have died and I saved them?"
Those questions haunted her.
"If I went into a restaurant with a group of people I always had to make sure I was sitting in the corner with my back against a wall so that no one could get behind me and typically so I could see the door," Krause recalled.
Post traumatic stress disorder caused her to turn to alcohol.
In recent years, nearly 20,000 female veterans were diagnosed with PTSD and other war-related mental disorders. Research shows women are four times more likely than men to have long-lasting PTSD. In one study it took women five years to recover - compared to two years for men. Another study found women vets with PTSD were more likely to suffer from arthritis, lower back pain, obesity and hypertension than women without the disorder. Therapists say the key is to acknowledge the symptoms.
Sgt. Krause is now a college grad and helps other vets. She says counseling saved her.
All veterans who may be struggling with PTSD are encouraged to contact their local VA hospitals for help. In July, the government established new PTSD regulations to help simplify and streamline the claims process.
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