[OneDay89]

I have been suffering from PTSD for a long time and I am trying everything in my power to help myself feel better and begin functioning like normal again. But I constantly feel like there is no help. There isn't any getting better. This is just how I am now until I die.

I know that isn't the way I need to be thinking but I don't know how to make it stop. Nothing ever feels like it is going to get better. All the research I have done and all the stories have I have heard seem to lead me to the same conclusion. There is no getting better. There is only struggle, everyday is a struggle and there doesn't appear to be an end in sight. The world refuses to let me get better.

Does this ever stop? Is it worth it in the end?

[Out There]

It can feel like it sometimes , PTSD is a struggle. Do you feel any better for sharing with us here ? It can help to reach out to supportive and understanding people. We can work to heal. I never thought I would see trauma as a " gift " , but in a way it is , when we work to heal those wounds we often find the silver linings in clouds and things maybe beyond the general populace. Is there a meaning and a purpose to the trauma ? I wish for you to find that there is. Join us

[Ceara1010]

I think I've heard it and read it that there isn't a "cure" for PTSD but it can go in a kind of remission if you use coping strategies.

But it takes a lot of self-awareness to know what it is that is debilitating you and what it is you need to do to cope. And just when you think you've got yourself all figured out--what your issues are, and what you need to do to deal with them--and that you can start sailing smoothly, life deals out new stresses and new triggers, and even new traumas, and you have to start all over again figuring yourself out and re-evaluating your coping strategies that used to work so well.

Yeah, it's a cycle that goes round and round and I got real tired of it a looooooong time ago.

--Ceara1010

[LucyD]

What have you tried in terms of therapy? Group therapy helped me somewhat. One on one therapy helped some, too. I still have PTSD but am not as "raw" as I once was.

[Ceara1010]

Originally Posted by LucyD

What have you tried in terms of therapy? Group therapy helped me somewhat. One on one therapy helped some, too. I still have PTSD but am not as "raw" as I once was.

It was mentioned in several books on PTSD I read that group therapy is the most beneficial for people with PTSD. This is probably because you really can't understand what it's like to have PTSD unless you have PTSD.

In my own experience, I've found the groups to be the most helpful, but I have only been able to find online PTSD groups. One-on-one therapy has not helped me much at all, so far, but I'm not giving up on it.

--Ceara1010

[LucyD]

The one on one therapy I got was not really very helpful for the PTSD as I felt scared all the time. The therapist was a man and that was both good and bad. Bad because I was abused by men so much and deep down inside terrified of them. It was in a way good because I was trying to communicate with a man again. I learned to trust him somewhat. The bad thing about it, too, was that I developed OCD while in this therapy. I don't know if I can blame him or just the circumstances of my whole life at that time; very very stressful.

Anyways, I went to offline group therapy for survivors of sexual assault. It was somewhat helpful but people in the group were all in different places. It did help me to see our similarities and that I was not the only one with those feelings.

I also saw another counselor that was somewhat helpful but really did not understand me at all. She couldn't understand why I wasn't all forgiving and forgetting. At that time it was the farthest thing from my mind. I was in way too my pain.

Anyways, I think group therapy online or offline is the best idea. Best wishes to you!

I found that I needed medication for PTSD and Depression and OCD and lately Binge Eating Disorder. I seem to be doing better now that I have found medications that help me.

[MtnTime2896]

I can't speak for anyone else but I can say that I don't see a cure in sight, ever. However, that doesn't change the fact that the struggle to get better and learn to cope every single day is worth it. The grass will be greener in other aspects of your life and if you work at it hard enough, you'll see that all of the pain, anger, sadness, distress and insanity makes you so much stronger and able to really appreciate the good things in life.