[Trace14]

What have you found to be the most helpful treatment for CPTSD?
Is there another treatment that your wanting to try?

[reb569]

I honestly haven't found a treatment myself for CPTSD. Things seem to be settling down for me some since my daughter is doing better, so I am somewhat back to normal, although I tend to get stressed out easier, quicker than I used to. I'm guessing that for me Mindfulness/Grounding is the best option.

I have also started taking Omega 3 Fish Oil supplement and a Vitamin B Complex. Both are supposed to help with depression.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by reb569

I honestly haven't found a treatment myself for CPTSD. Things seem to be settling down for me some since my daughter is doing better, so I am somewhat back to normal, although I tend to get stressed out easier, quicker than I used to. I'm guessing that for me Mindfulness/Grounding is the best option.

I have also started taking Omega 3 Fish Oil supplement and a Vitamin B Complex. Both are supposed to help with depression.

It seems to me that each treatment offers a little help, but no one treatment has been the magic one. I take B complex, maybe I should try the Omega 3 again.
So happy for you and your daughter.

[SoupDragon]

Mindfulness is the most helpful thing for me. Together with fostering a kinder internal voice.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by SoupDragon

Mindfulness is the most helpful thing for me. Together with fostering a kinder internal voice.

That would be like DBT training?

[reb569]

Originally Posted by Trace14

It seems to me that each treatment offers a little help, but no one treatment has been the magic one. I take B complex, maybe I should try the Omega 3 again.
So happy for you and your daughter.

I agree. I don't find talk therapy to be helpful for my past trauma, but it was very helpful for handling my daughter's MI and my reaction to it.

I really do think, at least initially, my main focus has to be getting my reactions to stress under control, recognizing that I am getting triggered and taking action (through grounding/mindfulness) to get it under control.

Beyond that, I'm not sure what direction I'm going to take. I realize that there is the possibility that the holes in my memory could be the result of horrible things. I don't know if I want to go there. What I remember was horrible enough, I'm not sure I want to remember something potentially worse.

This coming week at work will be a major test for me. I picked some new projects due to one our divisions manager leaving and I have two major projects that I'm working on right now and several smaller ones. I still haven't got a complete picture of what's going on with all the new projects but I have some hard deadlines coming up in the next couple weeks that are going to be quite challenging.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by reb569

I agree. I don't find talk therapy to be helpful for my past trauma, but it was very helpful for handling my daughter's MI and my reaction to it.

I really do think, at least initially, my main focus has to be getting my reactions to stress under control, recognizing that I am getting triggered and taking action (through grounding/mindfulness) to get it under control.

Beyond that, I'm not sure what direction I'm going to take. I realize that there is the possibility that the holes in my memory could be the result of horrible things. I don't know if I want to go there. What I remember was horrible enough, I'm not sure I want to remember something potentially worse.

This coming week at work will be a major test for me. I picked some new projects due to one our divisions manager leaving and I have two major projects that I'm working on right now and several smaller ones. I still haven't got a complete picture of what's going on with all the new projects but I have some hard deadlines coming up in the next couple weeks that are going to be quite challenging.

I guess there will be no magic cure that's a one size fits all. I think talk therapy may help me, just to vocalize the past traumas and get an understanding of why I am as I am. But who knows , I may panic and shut down?
Wow, work sounds very stressful and busy. What is your job duty again? Are they going to fill that position? Is there anyone that can help you?

[Carmina]

Art therapy

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by Carmina

Art therapy

I think that would be frustrating for me because I don't draw well, I mean bad. But I have heard people say it helps them, but they are more artistically talented. If it works for you, awesome.

[Carmina]

Well it's not just painting and drawing, it can be anything creative including poetry or even music/dance. And it's about the process not the end product, you don't have to be good at it technically (I'm not). The advantage for me is it enables me to process things that exist on a non verbal, pre conscious and embodied level. I find talking therapies are too 'in the head' and often tend to go around in circles or overly focus on cognition or superficial modes of processing.

[reb569]

Originally Posted by Trace14

I guess there will be no magic cure that's a one size fits all. I think talk therapy may help me, just to vocalize the past traumas and get an understanding of why I am as I am. But who knows , I may panic and shut down?
Wow, work sounds very stressful and busy. What is your job duty again? Are they going to fill that position? Is there anyone that can help you?

I work on our company website. Editing existing content, adding new content, custom coding to get results we are looking for. With our CMS knowledge of HTML and CSS are needed in order to do a lot of the work. Some can be done just within the site editor, but a lot has to be done via html and css.

I have no fully qualified backup in my division. I am working on training one person, but it's going to be awhile before she can independently do most of what needs to be done. There is one other co-worker who has about the same amount of knowledge as the person I am training. The only other people in our company that can help are in Systems, and they primarily handle the back end code. If I'm out of the office they will help with any high priority updates, but both of them have a full plate of their own projects to work on.

We actually have two positions open, a manager for the sub-team I work on, which has been open for a couple months and the manager that recently left. They are both posted but there haven't been any qualified applicants so far. Now there are rumors that another co-worker might be jumping ship. She took over merchandising from me two years ago and I don't want it back!

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by reb569

I work on our company website. Editing existing content, adding new content, custom coding to get results we are looking for. With our CMS knowledge of HTML and CSS are needed in order to do a lot of the work. Some can be done just within the site editor, but a lot has to be done via html and css.

I have no fully qualified backup in my division. I am working on training one person, but it's going to be awhile before she can independently do most of what needs to be done. There is one other co-worker who has about the same amount of knowledge as the person I am training. The only other people in our company that can help are in Systems, and they primarily handle the back end code. If I'm out of the office they will help with any high priority updates, but both of them have a full plate of their own projects to work on.

We actually have two positions open, a manager for the sub-team I work on, which has been open for a couple months and the manager that recently left. They are both posted but there haven't been any qualified applicants so far. Now there are rumors that another co-worker might be jumping ship. She took over merchandising from me two years ago and I don't want it back!

That certainly puts a lot of pressure on you to get things done. Sorry about that. Just from our talks I think you thrive under pressure though. You are up for the challenge and showing your importance there. It must feel great to get all that done, I would think. You would have been a good soldier or Emergency Services person

[reb569]

Originally Posted by Trace14

That certainly puts a lot of pressure on you to get things done. Sorry about that. Just from our talks I think you thrive under pressure though. You are up for the challenge and showing your importance there. It must feel great to get all that done, I would think. You would have been a good soldier or Emergency Services person

My performance under pressure I attribute to my years in the Air Force, as well as growing up on a farm.

Yesterday was hectic, but I got through it and got one part of a major project under control as well as additional work on several other. Today I have to spend some time on another major project that I wasn't able to get to yesterday.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by reb569

My performance under pressure I attribute to my years in the Air Force, as well as growing up on a farm.

Yesterday was hectic, but I got through it and got one part of a major project under control as well as additional work on several other. Today I have to spend some time on another major project that I wasn't able to get to yesterday.

That's right you were in the Air Force...well there you go. Plus I think the constant watching over your daughter you saw a problem and you reacted quickly. I have no doubt you will get these projects done and done perfectly

[TishaBuv]

There are two elements: the “attack” of traumatic reaction and the cause. 1. Avoid the trigger of the attack. 2. I did ‘talk therapy’ by myself, on here with this community and with my closest friends and family. This helped me now feel like I have come through this, like it is behind me. I feel understood and my sanity validated. I feel like I understand where the faulty thinking lies with me due to a disorder and where I am totally ‘normal’ in my perception. 3. Learn to manage the trigger where it can’t be avoided. A) adjust my thinking, B) use resources and creativity, whatever works

[reb569]

Originally Posted by Trace14

That's right you were in the Air Force...well there you go. Plus I think the constant watching over your daughter you saw a problem and you reacted quickly. I have no doubt you will get these projects done and done perfectly

Well I survived the week. Things overall went quite well. I got a little panicky a few times when I was juggling several projects at once. Most of the projects are looking pretty good. I have a couple that need major attention on Monday and I think next week is going to be pretty hectic. I have two major projects going live next week, one is almost ready to go, the other still needs some significant work. After the one goes live, then I start another major project almost immediately, up to 8 pages of content for two different products.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by reb569

Well I survived the week. Things overall went quite well. I got a little panicky a few times when I was juggling several projects at once. Most of the projects are looking pretty good. I have a couple that need major attention on Monday and I think next week is going to be pretty hectic. I have two major projects going live next week, one is almost ready to go, the other still needs some significant work. After the one goes live, then I start another major project almost immediately, up to 8 pages of content for two different products.

Yeah!!!! I knew you would, you are just that way. Too bad they don't realize what an asset you are to them. Because I think you are. Good job on all of this!

[seeker33]

What I find helpful for CPTSD is a combination of mindfulness, Somatic experiencing, talk therapy and art.
When you get a negative emotion, localize it in your body, imagine it's position, size, colour, texture and find another "safe space" in your body- for me it's usually feet touching the ground or bottom/tights and the feeling of safe chair under me) then shift the attention from one place to another, imagine the pulsation and feeling of contraction/relaxation. For me, this works pretty well. I do exercises like tapping and massaging my whole body while thinking "this is my hand, this is my shoulder...". It helps with establishing boundaries and mainly to bring me back from my mind and overthinking back to reality.

As has been mentioned here, I love paining, too. I'm definitely not an artist and I've never considered myself a creative person. However I find drawing child-like pictures of my trauma and emotions very helpful. It helps me process on a deeper level than talk therapy. Another thing I'm just going to try is intuitive painting.

I also find talk therapy helpful, it helps me solve the puzzle of my life, explain why I am where I am, and sort my feelings and experiences. It is great to have someone you can trust who listens to you.

Another thing I do is mild exercise (fast-paced cardio and anything competetive or goal-oriented is too stressful for me and causes me anxiety). However, when I'm able to do just a little exercise with no particular goal in mind, such as swimming, walking while mindfully observing my surroundings (eg autumn leaves) or slow-paced yoga I can feel the endorphines.

[seeker33]

Hi, this is my second attempt to post here. Hopefully it will appear now
Things that I find helpful for CPTSD are talk therapy, drawing/painting (I am not creative at all, my artistic skills suck, but I find that drawing child-like pictures of my trauma and emotions helps me process on a deeper level), somatic experiencing, mindfulness and very mild and light exercise (cardio and vigorous exercise causes me anxiety).