By ,
Published January 25, 2017
This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," July 14, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Now, Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi is supposed to be in California getting treatment for PTSD. Instead, he is languishing in a Mexican prison. So, how is he dealing with PTSD behind bars? Here is what the Marine told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: You went to the V.A. hospital for treatment of PTSD in San Diego. I mean, so I take it you were having troubles, right?
SGT. ANDREW TAHMOORESSI, MARINE JAILED IN MEXICO: Yes, I was.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK. So, do you not have those troubles anymore? I'm kind of sort of figure out, you know, how things are with you really inside there.
TAHMOORESSI: You know, a lot of those troubles that I had I don't have them as much or really -- like, for instance, I was drinking a lot, which wasn't helping my -- which wasn't helping me at all. I was doing some other things that weren't healthy for me. And I was -- I was also kind of arguing with my family as well. I wasn't being the best son I could be or the best brother I could be because of all the stress I was going through and of the mental state that I was in.
So, I was tearing myself away from my family. And I was using substances to try to ease the -- ease the pain I guess you could say. And I was around, you know, I was out in the world so I was a around a lot of people which made me feel uncomfortable. And just all kinds of things that were making me paranoid that I no longer have to deal with here. And I'm talking to my family, you know, and this has made us come closer together once again. And we're on better terms or really good terms now, a lot better than what it once was. So, this has allowed me to have time to kind of come back together as a person as it's made me more well balanced I guess you could say and it's helped me in the healing process of PTSD.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: And you can you see more of our interview with Sergeant Tahmooressi. Just go to GretaWire.com. And joining us now, Sergeant Tahmooressi's mother Jill Tahmooressi. Nice to see you, Jill.
JILL TAHMOORESSI, ANDREW TAHMOORESSI'S MOTHER: Hello, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Jill, I just talked to your son Andrew. And he sounds like he's doing really well. That prison is not a problem for him. Almost that he seems that they'd been good for him. Is that what he says to you?
MRS. TAHMORESSI: Well, no, I think he's trying to make the best of a horrible situation. That's the kind of character that he is. I raise him to be positive and to make the best out of every situation. And he's certainly doing that.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I mean, like I'll tell you if I were sitting in a jail in Mexico or even down the street in D.C. I think I would be a lot -- I think it would be a lot more upset about it. And I think that then if I thought I was there wrongfully I would be really upset about it. I just, you know, can you give me a little bit more. Are things going well for him there? Is he just trying to sugarcoat it for me?
MRS. TAHMOORESSI: Well, I mean, he's not -- his life isn't being threatened like it was in La Mesa with the inmates and then later with the guards. He is feeling safe and secure in the sense that he's all alone. And, you know, he has got the 24/7 guard. Honestly he just spends all day reading spiritual books, the Bible, the "Lord of the Rings." You know, there's not a lot to make him fearful. Because it's such a controlled setting but that doesn't mean that he's not upset and frustrated. I know he was highly despondent on Wednesday when he didn't go home. And that's why I called the State Department and asked him to step up their visits to him. And I called up the pastor and I said please go see him on Thursday. I'm really nervous. And so, they did.
VAN SUSTEREN: I think -- you know, you're looking at things through own eyes. But if I were sitting in a small cell 24/7 with a light on me at all time to except for the time where I got out the hour or two a day I got out. Even if I got my favorite books, I think that I would still feel deeply distressed and, you know, so I guess that I sort of wonder, you know, what's going on.
MRS. TAHMOORESSI: He's a man of strength.
VAN SUSTEREN: So he -- so he can handle this? He's not showing manifestations of PTSD?
MRS. TAHMOORESSI: Well, PTSD. His PTSD is not cured by going into a Mexican jail. His symptom of PTSD was around crowds and noise and the triggers that would make him nervous. He thought he was prey. He thought he was being hunted. He doesn't have those triggers in a Mexican jail. So his PTSD is not resolved. He needs to get back into America so we can once again see what triggers him so he can get the help that he needs. Certainly a Mexican jail did not cure his PTSD.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, Jill, we'll continue to watch. Just let us know if we can help you, OK?
MRS. TAHMOORESSI: Thank you.
VAN SUSTEREN: Thank you, Jill.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/jailed-marines-mother-hes-trying-to-make-the-best-of-a-horrible-situation-hes-a-man-of-strength