Quote:
Originally Posted by jeanlit
Recently my PTSD kicked in over events in my work life as well as financial stressors.
My psychiatrist asked me when the original events to trigger the PTSD happened. About 40 years ago.
He asked me when my father (the abuser) died. About 14 years ago.
He gave me the opinion that he thinks I should be over this.
Because I've had PTSD off and on (depending on the everyday life events that might trigger the symptoms), I generally was under the impression that one has PTSD, does not get rid of it, although the symptoms can abate and maybe be gone for a long time.
Asking for opinions regarding whether one is supposed to "get over" PTSD. The triggering events were an entire childhood of abuse by my dad, who was a well-respected professional (won't say which profession). Thus, I trust no professionals.
My Psychiatrist seems to think I should be over PTSD. Have had it off and on since 1975, when there are triggers.
|
I see you are in Toledo. if i remember right from my high school geography classes theres many different places in the USA and in other countries named Toledo...
on the chance that your location is someplace other than the USA...
here in my location (USA) PTSD is curable. it is a diagnostic label that includes many different things....think of it like mustard. Mustard is the label (PTSD) and vinegar, mustard seed, water are the ingredients (symptoms)
next step once the jar (mustard) is empty of the mixture of symptoms (vinegar, mustard seed, water) the mustard is gone.
here in America PTSD is a cover all label and inside it are symptoms of anxiety, depression, nightmares, flashbacks, depersonalization, derealization, ....
if for example a person is diagnosed PTSD because they have nightmares, and anxiety....when the nightmares stop and the anxiety stops or is under control the person no longer has PTSD.
heres an example from my life... I work in a job where from time to time I have to accompany victims of domestic violence to the ER. during one such event the situation turned into my being a witness to a domestic violence murder. I ended up taking time off work because Doing my job was causing me anxiety, I was having nightmares and flashbacks about the event. It took about 6 months of therapy and my wife teaching me about guns and how to shoot one at the range to get me past my fears, anxiety, nightmares, and flashbacks. but one day I did not have any flashbacks about the event, was sleeping through the night again, able to enter my work place and the ER again with out anxiety. my PTSD was gone.
thats not saying a person cant have PTSD from another traumatic event....
example when hurricane sandy hit my location and made my home unlivable my treatment provider diagnosed me with PTSD because I was having trouble sleeping, having nightmares of losing my new home, I was depressed because of all that I had lost that could not be replaced. I was anxious every time we had a storm with worrying whether the storm was going to develop into another life altering event. But over time with the help of medications my fears\anxiety stopped, I slept through the night and my depression related to hurricane sandy lifted. my PTSD was gone.
my point ...here in the USA yes PTSD is curable. for some people their PTSD symptoms naturally go away with time, others need help through therapy and medication. for some people they can get past their PTSD symptoms relatively soon, I have known some who bounce back after a month or so and others it may take many years.
Here in the USA PTSD doesnt have to be caused just by abuse. it can be caused by many different things. life is full of things that may affect a person to the point of having nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, depression, ...(in other words what america calls PTSD)
I have found the best way for me to get through it any time I end up with PTSD is to breath and take it one event at a time. example when I had PTSD due to work related trauma I focused on healing from that with my treatment providers, when I had another PTSD causing event (hurricane sandy ) I focused my therapy and such on that.
my suggestion since you have PTSD from more than one traumatic event in your life pick the one that is the most affecting to you and focus your treatment on that or vise versa take care of the lesser affecting traumatic event first...my point maybe you are trying to take it all on at once, maybe taking a step back and giving yourself more narrowed down focus points rather than doing it all will get you where you want to be and where your treatment provider feels you should be at.
another suggestion...in some of the posts here on psych central you may find some posts where some people find working a structured type of therapy like working with workbooks designed for a specific problem helps to slow things down to where they can get the life lasting progress they are looking for.
talk with your treatment providers they will be able to help you to develop a treatment plan so that you can work through what ever your treatment provider feels is holding you stuck with your past traumas.