PTSD effects

Hi, I lived through a traumatizing situation a few years ago and I still suffer from its effects. Some people say my Third Eye is blocked.. I guess this is the same as saying some of my cognitive functions are blocked. For example, I absolutely cannot recall any detailed events that happened in the time I had this conflictual situation. It is almost completely blocked. Also I feel like I have a patch in my brain... when the bubble disappears, I have headaches, and confusion in the brain.. my head spins and I lose balance. I read that these kinds of things is PTSD. How can I try to heal it at least a little. I don't care anymore about the situation, I buried it. But I dont' like these headaches and confusion and spinning.

Hi emma, welcome to PC and the PTSD forum. I am sorry you have been struggling with these challenging symptoms. I have also experienced some very debilitating and confusing symptoms and it's important to be patient with self and allow yourself as much time as you need to slowly progress in your healing. While I have never heard the term "third eye" used, I can see how some would describe it that way. However, when it comes to recovering from a trauma, it can take the brain quite some time to slowly work through a trauma. When someone experiences a trauma the brain reacts in ways where it tries to defend itself from getting overwhelmed. I have read where the hypo-campus will shut down significantly so it protects itself from being damaged, that as it does this the person often doesn't remember all of the trauma because how the hypo-campus shuts a lot of details out.

I can relate to the dizziness and the headaches as I experienced that myself. I often had to retreat to my bedroom where I was away from everyone and I would just lay down and allow my mind to relax. As time went on I learned that if I did that after about an hour I would actually feel better where I could function again. I gradually learned how these episodes happened because my brain was trying to figure out how to function again "slowly" and I was very sensitive to experiencing an overload where I had to take a time out and be quiet so my brain could slowly regain on functioning a little at a time. The brain doesn't really know what to do with trauma so that's why a person can experience these challenging symptoms.

Are you seeing a therapist? A trauma specialist? I learned that it's important to make sure if you do see a therapist that it be a therapist that is a trauma therapy specialist.

oh wow!! I thank you so much for your response! I thought I was permanently damaged or something! I guess yes... I do need time to recover! My brain is very slow and I can barely tolerate pressure or stress of any sort, I get terrible anxiety attacks, like my system is organically and physiologically telling me that it is overwhelmed. Yes I guess I have to take the time to heal. I saw a few therapists. And the one I saw last time, actually she is a trauma specialist. So yes, I guess I have to talk more about this to her.. I guess she must be in a position to help me more about this. I thank you again for your help! Your answer was very helpful! I can understand what is going on in my brain! Thanks

I was just wondering, how long can it take to recover from PTSD at least partially? at least so that I can work. It's been around a year that my conflict is over and I partially recovered my previous life.. really partially. I am not able to work though. I am too slow and not able to tolerate stress and pressure. Thank you for your help!

Hi emma, I honestly can't say how long because everyone is a little different and a lot depends on one's environment too. I also think it depends on the trauma because I think each person is different depending on the size of their hypocampus and how the trauma affected that area. If you can get outside and take walks in the fresh air that can help. PTSD tends to lead to a person isolating, I know I began doing that myself. But, I did not completely isolate and I do get outside and walk around and get fresh air.

here where I am when someone tells me that my third eye is blocked they dont mean my cognitive functioning (the physical brain activity that controls my reasoning/ logic, thinking, remembering, ...)

when someone tells me my third eye is blocked they mean things like chakra, esp, paranormal activity, clairavoyance, vibes, you know all that stuff that comes with things like having a higher power, higher form of consciousness, and religion. in other words they are telling me to sit down and meditate, pray to my higher powers that be....

just wanted to clarify that for you. maybe you can ask those telling you that your third eye is blocked what they mean.

as for the headaches, confusion and spinning, in me this actually turned out to be physical when I thought it was part of my PTSD problems. my suggestion is contact a medical doctor who can maybe diagnose what this is in you and get you treated. example in me it turned out to be my getting a migraine any time I thought about the past or when I was stressed or had anxiety (the anxiety, intrusive thoughts and thinking about the past too much was part of my PTSD but the physical headaches, sense of spinning and confusion turned out to be treatable with migraine meds.)

my point maybe there is something your medical doctor can do to help the physical problems that are because of your PTSD, it may help and make things easier for you.

When it comes to experiencing a trauma at first the person experiences post traumatic "stress". If the trauma ends up being suffering loss over a longer period the person can actually end up experiencing a post traumatic stress breakdown. That is what I myself experienced. When I experienced a post traumatic stress breakdown I was completely emotionally and physically exhausted and I could no longer address the ongoing loss I was facing from the original event that led to a lot of damage and loss. Unfortunately, when I experienced the post traumatic stress breakdown, I was begging for rest and grief counseling and instead of getting that I ended up in a psych ward where I did not get rest and grief counseling but instead was further traumatized. When I left that psych ward, I was literally even more traumatized then when I went in. Then I had to go back to addressing a lot of damage that made it even worse.

So for me, instead of getting the right treatment that could have reduced the damage to my hypocampus, instead I suffered even more which I now know simply caused even more damage. As a result I ended up developing full blown PTSD.

The damage and shrinkage that took place in my hypocampus made it so much harder for me to function. That's because the hypocampus is an important filter that helps a person be able to handle problems and decide how something taking place is not so bad and can be managed. So what can happen is that a person begins to get much more sensitive and more easily overwhelmed and this is when their amygdala begins to get over stimulated because it no longer has the hypocampus as a filter to protect it so it doesn't get overwhelmed. The amygdala is where so much of our emotional responses to things originate and without the hypocampus to control what the amygdala gets exposed to, it gets overwhelmed much more easily.

A person who is struggling doesn't understand this and it can frighten them. The one common question sufferers ask is "why can't I just like I used to?". The person suffering doesn't understand "why" they are so much more emotional and sensitive. What happened to me is that others around me, my family and even my friends began getting angry with me for being so sensitive and that just made it even harder for me. I tried to get help, but unfortunately I did not get the right help where I got help from someone who specialized in treating someone who is struggling with PTSD and needs help from a "specialized trauma therapist".

The truth is it has only been recently and with the new technology developed that they can see the areas in the brain that reflect what happens in the brain when someone suffers from post traumatic stress, and has a post traumatic stress breakdown. Because it can become a significant and debilitating problem for people, they are making it a point to study it and because of that along with newer technology they are finally seeing and learning a lot more now. They are starting to see how with time and the right treatment the brain and damaged areas can heal with time.

The reason individuals who struggle begin isolating is because they are trying to avoid being hurt again so they can actually "heal". The more we can learn about what is affected and how to aid in healing, the better treatment and understanding challenged individuals will have. Also, instead of being left in confusion, the person will be able to learn about "what" it means to have PTSD and how they can help themselves so they can slowly recover and make slow gains on their "healing". With more "knowledge" people who suffer can also have their family learn about why they are suffering too so their family doesn't say things to them that end up hurting them where the healing they need to experience takes even longer.

We are just at a point now where we have learned a lot so people can be helped better. I did not have that happen for me, so I can't really tell someone else "how long" or even how severe their challenge really is compared to mine. However, I do know how crippling it can be, I know you have to be VERY PATIENT and KIND to yourself and to give yourself "time" and rest so you can "slowly" do some important healing.