Hellion, I can relate to everything you have said, everything, thinking you "should" be able to "get better" on your own somehow. And then having it get worse and go into full blown PTSD. That is exactly what happened to me, I didn't see it coming at all, and you know what, most people don't. That is actually what Dr. Phil talked about when he was talking to the parents of some of children involved with the Newtown trajedy. Even children that didn't see what happened had to be watched. In fact that was the first time I heard anyone talk about the "warning signs" to watch out for so that someone doesn't get PTSD, and as I listened he talked about "every thing I did" and my family was never told to see it and they should have been told that when I was in the psychward. Infact they didn't treat me in the psychward, no one gave me grief counceling or any of the things trama patients need right away.

Yes, I know all about the "stop dwelling" comments, they sure don't help at all do they? No, they make it worse, they tell people who need to talk in order to greive and not get worse to "shut up", which is exactly what should "not" take place.

Hey, my sister came in to the psychward and yelled at me to "stop dwelling and get my act together or I would lose my marriage, farm, everything, it would be "all my fault if I didn't stop "dwelling and just get over it". No one came and sat with me, hugged me and let me cry and talk about it. I was just stuck in an unheated room, with a thin blanket and I shivered with the shock and shivered to stay warm. They knew I had the "cold room" but no one bothered to "fix it". Not a very nice thing to do with a trama patient for 9 days. And I was followed around by a guy that kept telling me he was Jesus Christ and could fix my pain.
Yeah, that was a trama ontop of a trama for me and then when I got out, my family was angry and mean to me, I should be all better after a psychward stay like that right?

Oh, I know Hellion, people can be mean and I know what it is like to think you have to find a way to "stuff it" somehow, that is what I thought, and it only made me worse.

(((HUGS)))