do you think it is possible to heal from PTSD? what does that mean?

i thought the brain was changed in people with PTSD, so how do we change it back?

or do we just learn to "manage" the disorder?

[MDDBPDPTSD]

I wonder that too stringcheese. I hope someone who knows will answer the question. Thanks for posing it.
I know right now, I feel as though the most I cn ever hope for is management , but I am getting older, so I feel like I do not have that much to lose either way. Most of my life has been consumed by my diseases. Even if I do somehow get "cured" I do not have that much time to accomplish my life goals. It is too late for me to get much more done.
I don't have one foot in the grave, but then again, I am not a youngster either. Most of my life goals were so big that I would have had to be able to lay a stable foundation for them long ago.
I do think I may be able to accomplish some smaller goals in my remaining years, if I can get some stability in my life. But there are no guarantees. One day at a time and all that.

[Open Eyes]

(((Stringcheeze))),

Someone posted there was no cure for PTSD. My next T appointment I told him what was said. He told me that people "DO" heal from PTSD. It is just that each person is different and that there are stages of healing. I am in the second stage and I do feel I am improving, however it is still up and down but not as bad as last year. I have decided that I am just going to follow the path of healing and do my best to continue to progress. MDDBPDPTSD has the right approach, "one day at a time". And my constant message is to remember to be kind and patient with "SELF" no matter what.

(((Hugs)))
Open Eyes

[Hellion]

I am thinking I should just figure out how to manage it...I mean its not like there is anything great to 'go back to' I was screwed up before I had PTSD so even if I could go back to how I was before it wouldn't do any good.

[splitimage]

I do think it is possible to recover from PTSD, although I don't know if I'll ever be completely cured. It's taken years of therapy and meds, but I'm now by and large asymptomatic except if I'm suddenly triggered and that only happens a couple of times of year.

I've largely stopped dissociating. I don't have flashbacks anymore. My startle response is now normal - if anything I'm now on the calm side of the emotional response range. I still get nightmares, but it's a couple a times a month as opposed to almost nightly, and most importantly when I wake up I know they were just dreams as opposed to being stuck in a fog where I think the dream is real for anywhere up to a couple of hours.

I still have problems with a foreshortenned sense of the future - simply not capable of thinking long term, and I'm still unable to be physically intimate - that's my biggest hurdle to overcome, but I do believe I'll be able to overcome it one day.

I'm feeling cautiously optomistic for the first time in 6 years.

So yes I do believe recovery is possible - it's just incredibly hard.

splitimage

I think some people can, for others I don't think they can ...

Which leaves those who can't in a pickle if they can't learn how to manage their symptoms ...

It's like some of the missing pieces won't ever be able to be recovered ...

Therefore, I keep telling myself that old phrase about making do with what I've got and letting what I've got make do ...

But at times that in itself is a small consolation ...

Hope that wasn't too brutally honest ...

,
Pfrog!

[beauflow]

StringCheese and MDDBPDPTSD I am in the boat with you with questioning it... OpenEyes, Split Image and Pfrog Thank you all for what you have wrote.. it not only gives at least a little hope-- it gives some reassurance.

Hellion, yes coping skills to manage it I think has a lot to do with it... One time a while back it was mentioned of practicing -- a lot of practicing, it was something my S/O told me that he had to do, and other PC members mentioned that too is a good thing to remember.. Nothing is going to happen over night.

I have noticed here lately I have gotten into that rough thinking pattern again of I will not get better- I will not be better- I will be what I fear with being older, and either worse, or not much better than now...

But I have been telling myself as well-- If I Keep Thinking that Negative attitude, how can I expect to be better unless I try?

Even if I try and fail- at least there should be a learning lesson with that, even if it takes me a while to catch on.. perhaps all I will have in my life, is what I like to call: little epiphanies, but at least that is something- even if not able to change ever thing that has been 'wired in a strange way' or with my little brain wedges being shrunk

Many hugs to all of you...

I think it does feel like it's impossible at times, at least I believe I do. But honestly, I also believe it can either get worse or get better, it all depends on us.

Sadly, there is no magic pill or treatment that will make it al go away overnight.

[catesfate]

Hi...thanks for sharing all this. I'm new and not sure I'm in the right part of Forum...I'm not combat ptsd. I am told that it depends a lot on the type of trauma...mine is all related to my husbands illness and spinal cord injury and hospitals, doctors, nurses, smells, our van if it breaks down...if his home care aid doesn't show up, even certain cell phone rings from when he was in ICU...you name it. I hope to be able to deal better as I know I will be faced with these situations the rest of my life. I didn't realize it was ptsd...since have learned that watching him suffer, placed on a vent, in ICU, all this is also reason. And that being a spousal caregiver...the loss of your partner as you 'knew them'...a lot of ptsd related symptoms. I just want to be a 'nice' reasonable person again...not angry and screaming at every little thing. Not hiding in the guest room to avoid making a scene. Feeling like I'm a monster!

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Stringcheese

do you think it is possible to heal from PTSD? what does that mean?

i thought the brain was changed in people with PTSD, so how do we change it back?

or do we just learn to "manage" the disorder?

yes here where I live and wirk the mental health community and I believe a person can heal from PTSD....PTSD is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. its just a big label / category for symptoms that come from going through a trauma.

example I went through a work related trauma where an abuser shot their victim in front of me. I wasnt physically harmed but being a witness to that crime caused me to experience hypervigelence, panic and anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks. Just the idea of going in to work would send me into an anxiety/panic attack. I would walk the floor at night checking and rechecking windows and doors to make sure that abuser wasnt going to shoot me, I had a startle reflex when ever I heard any noises related to what happened.

I took time off from work and worked with my therapist. now I no longer fear going to work, I no longer have nightmares over what happened, I no longer have flashbacks from the traumatic event, I am able to go to work, meet with abuse clients, help them to break free of their abusers, confront their abusers and testify in court about the abuser, the victim and how our agency is helping the victim. I no longer walk the floor checking windows and doors at night and no longer startle at noises that resemble what I had gone through..

because I no longer have any problems with PTSD symptoms over the traumatic event that cuased these problems I am considered to be legally and mentally healed from that event and the resulting PTSD that, that traumatic event caused.

That isnt to say I can never have PTSD symptoms resulting from other traumatic events.

PTSD is one of those mental disorders that can be caused by many kind of stressful and perceived traumatic event. a person has PTSD symptoms related to a trauma and when they no longer have PTSD symptoms from that trauma they are healed. they are done having PTSD over that traumatic event.

its like a person who has allergies to peanut butter. they go through allergy testing and shots and they are no longer allergic to peanut butter. their allergy (peanut butter) has been healed.

that doesnt mean they are immune to a very allergen out there. they could some day find out they are allergic to bees. their finding out they are allergic to bees doesnt mean they were not healed from their allergy to peanut butter. it just means they have a new allergy to heal from.

my PTSD from my work related trauma is healed and gone, and over time a new trauma may cause me to have new PTSD symptoms related to the new traumatic event.

for example what if another abuser harms their victim in front of me. this may ****remind**** me of that past trauma but the anxiety, panic, nightmares, hypervigelence... is because I witnessed a new traumatic event.

That doesnt mean I wasnt healed from the first traumatic event, it just means I have new PTSD symptoms because I witnessed another traumatic event.

just like you can be healed from having allergies to one thing and then have a new diagnosis of allergies related to a new allergen here where I live and work we believe you can have PTSD from a traumatic event, be healed from that so you no longer have PTSD symptoms and then have a new diagnosis of PTSD from a different traumatic event.

how many traumas cause a person to go through and be healed from PTSD is different for everyone.

I think I've pretty much recovered from PTSD. I doubt that the diagnosis is really active for me anymore. It has taken many, many years of therapy to get there though. But I don't dissociate anymore, I've worked through the traumas so that now they are just pieces of my history and I can mostly think about them without dwelling on them or reliving them in any way. They are simply a part of my history and don't hold the power over me that they once did. But the traumas started at age 5 for me and I'm now 49. I have only been able to feel pretty free of the PTSD in the past year.

On occasion something will come up that will trigger a reaction in me, but I have a skill set now for dealing with those times head on without dissociating or prolonged anxiety that I can use to get past those times without falling into a full swing crisis. It's been a very long road, but yes, I do think it is possible to move beyond PTSD.

Originally Posted by Stringcheese

do you think it is possible to heal from PTSD? what does that mean?
i thought the brain was changed in people with PTSD, so how do we change it back?
or do we just learn to "manage" the disorder?

I really hope so (I know that I could not continue living the way I was living). I am managing / coping better now, so I do think it's possible to heal in that regard.

For me, it's a matter of making gains by rewiring my thinking: replacing certain < thinking with more +> thinking: reminding myself constantly that I am safe and at peace. That I can handle anything that comes my way. And as another member taught me, to remember to add the word "yet" to my thought process. Also, as many members have reminded me, to keep in mind that I am not alone, I will "get through", to hang in and that it DOES get better.

[Open Eyes]

((Rose)),

Yes, I like the word "yet". And my new word is "grow"because, and I think farmergirl will agree, and that is really what she is also saying, it took her time, but she has "grown" past the PTSD that once challenged her so much.

We really "do" grow all our lives and there is nothing wrong with just letting oneself grow and continue to learn.

(((Open Eyes)))

I love that, too...good word "grow" thank you

[Pikku Myy]

I would like to say "yes" but never totally I've had a great support group with friends, family, neighbors, and Dr's... and even after three or so years, I do have my episodes I have, however, learned to cope, recognize and ask for help before things get totally out of hand Hugs