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1959097 tn?1327737902

I have ptsd

How do I control this ptsd.
23 Responses
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5876579 tn?1375899914
Well said...  and I have had the same fear about being hypnotized, but sometimes it all becomes too much and I get desperate.
What is SAD Light Therapy?  What other exercises have you tried?  Have you done myofascial release or other somatic (body) therapy?  
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4190741 tn?1370177832
I suffer from PTSD since I was a preteen.  My first attempt at therapy didn't happen until nearly 20 years later, before that, PTSD was called Shell Shock and very little was known about how to treat it.  I have never taken Meds for PTSD and have no desire to do so.  Since I first had therapy the standard model was in Talk Therapy and Group Therapy.  I have never had the hypnotism, that has always seemed to be too " woowoo" to me.
I have found after a lifetime of PTSD that there are little " Chambers" or " Rooms", hidden deep inside us where the richest and scariest treasures are.  When we are young, and even not so young, there are many things that happen that we cannot process all at once, so we put a bookmark into some of the things that happen to us, so that we can process them at a later time, and some of those things get buried in the little rooms deep in our hearts.  Our bodies tell us in most cases what is going on in our hearts, and depression and anxiety are rich in being aligned with those buried memories inside our hearts and souls.

I don't ever expect to Recover from PTSD.  It is the gift that keeps on giving day after day after day.  I use journaling, SAD Light Therapy and other exercises every day to try to stay on top of problems that can easily spiral out of control if not addressed as they come up.

M
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5876579 tn?1375899914
Totally agree with your post about the brain's "splitting" of the traumatic event, and I also agree with what you said about how the way to recover is to integrate the emotions/memories.  I can't believe how these emotions never go away as long as they are unfelt, they just lay there shielded from us, in the unconscious part of our brain, to be triggered out of 'nowhere' it seems.   How can we fight what we cannot see?  That is the understatement.  If we need to feel those emotions that are buried and they are blocked... or we were babies and didn't have words... what then?

I had a friend who has PTSD, was hypnotized to access childhood abuse, now he hears voices...  Have you ever heard of such a thing?
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6336938 tn?1380529307
Sure.  Since PTSD has a very broad manifestation of symptoms, you may experience extreme fear, and I may experience panic attacks.  Another person may have night terrors, or flashbacks.  When seeking treatment for the manifestation of PTSD you have, I think it is most important to be completely open and honest with mental health professionals.  The only way they can provide a completely accurate diagnosis is to differentiate what could be a different condition, such as anxiety and depression, or full-blown PTSD.  
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675718 tn?1530033033
PTSD is all about intense fear but the rest of it you describe is very accurate and informative thank for the post :)
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6336938 tn?1380529307
Guys, I have PTSD, no doubt.  I have read and studied on it for many years, and I have gone to therapy for the condition.  I have never taken medicine other than meds that were prescribed for something different.  

To address, what is PTSD, one has to first understand how it happens.  Trauma, such as a very bad car accident, can happen to people and has a significant psychological impact on many.  This impact can reveal itself in many forms.  To understand basic psychology, is to understand how this occurs in the brain.  In the example of a car wreck, a person involved may completely lose memory of the event, otherwise, blocking it from the conscious mind.  It doesn't mean that you don't know, or that you didn't see what happened, it means that the brain decided that the event was so traumatic that it committed the memory to the unconscious mind.  And, now we know why PTSD is so difficult to deal with...it exists in our unconscious mind, which means the behaviors that are driven by PTSD seem to be beyond our control.  

During WWII the Nazis used trauma as a tool to program soldier's minds.  This brainwashing was so intentional that they thought the could provide certain stimuli which would recall the memory on command to perform certain tasks when they needed them done...a recent Hollywood depiction of this is The Bourne series and there was also a film called Soldier that sort of plays on this also.  The Nazis also thought they could used these capsulated memories (thing of the mind as a honeycomb, where each hole is a suppressed/traumatic memory) as a filing cabinet...when you want to reach in and get a file you open the drawer and take out that particular event (traumatic event).  

I see that many people are having success with meds.  I don't want to take meds, and I refuse the consideration of it, no matter how severe my PTSD is.  I do, however, practice haulistic therapies on occasion.  Also, I have heard that these suppressed memories/traumas can be helped through hypnosis.  I'm not sure about this, but I have heard that there are successful results.  
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5876579 tn?1375899914
Hi, Somethinsfishy....Could you please expound on the somatic work you had done?  I live in a small town and there is little offered in this field... It was quite by accident that I happened to get myofascial release for a frozen shoulder or I wouldn't have known there was such a thing (that is what opened my eyes to what was wrong)  Unfortunately, the one lady here who does the myofascial release is NOT a therapist and doesn't understand PTSD.  
I'd love to hear more... have you heard of Dr Berceli's work to release trauma, causing the body to tremble...is what you did similar?  
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675718 tn?1530033033
thank you ragdollannie
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5876579 tn?1375899914
That is because it didn't work for you... It doesn't work for everybody but don't discount it, you might want to try again later.  The thing about the human brain is, it will 'release' the trauma in its own good time.... and it won't happen until you are ready.  If you practice deep breathing and relaxation exercises, learn coping skills, you will be preparing for that to happen... it is like coaxing a squirrel... be patient and kind to yourself and know that this is not your fault, this is something that happened to you, not something you did.
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5876579 tn?1375899914
I agree that meds are not helpful.  I was on all kinds of medicines for many many years (I am OLD), and learned that all the meds did is to numb the already numb.   Our brains are reacting to buried emotion by going back and forth between over-drive "hyper vigilance" and numb.  The reason we got this in the first place is that we didn't know how to cope with our extreme emotions, so we numbed out, distracted, avoided, DIDN'T FEEL our emotions... but buried them.  But unfortunately they get triggered up from time to time (that is the fight or flight part of this) To get to the bottom of PTSD, one has to feel those buried emotions so they can be integrated into our brain, become normal memories instead of being buried and not felt... the only way to integrate them is to FEEL them ...there are ways to get them out, ERT, EMDR, Myofascial Release are some ways i have found that work, everybody has to find what works for them but stopping symptoms doesn't get to the root of the problem.   I would suggest Jasmin Lee Cori and Peter Levine's books on trauma...  they really explain it well.  You are not alone.  
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675718 tn?1530033033
I don't think digging in my brain for something I was traumatized over needs not to be revisited :)
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Avatar universal
Well, that's your choice, but it's really not a matter of belief. It works.
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675718 tn?1530033033
I don't believe in emdr
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Avatar universal
I have had Complex PTSD for most of my life. Medications never worked for me. I've found enormous relief through regular acupuncture, reiki, and therapy in which we use EMDR as well as somatic experience methods in order to clear the painful memories so that they don't continue to get re-activated. I hope that you are able to find peace.
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675718 tn?1530033033
it's true the pills help regulate my sleep, tinymite1 alot of people don't understand, for years i always wanted someone to know what i was going through going to group therapy i met alot of people that did go through hell also :)
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1981197 tn?1327022250
ive recently been diagnosed with ptsd , i have been given medication my 2nd week on them , i dont feel any different altho i am sleeping a bit better , i am always stressed , altho I do have alot going on with me at the moment . Hope this gets better soon , does it?? does the meds help in the long term??
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1959097 tn?1327737902
Ok i'll see
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675718 tn?1530033033
sometimes the pills help and reacts well with an anti-depressant you have to give it time to let the medicine it's work
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1959097 tn?1327737902
well I'm not trying to get addicted to meds. I just want to be normal. Then maybe I can act my age. I can't cause people are not understanding. Then I dnt understand at the same time
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675718 tn?1530033033
they could add anti-psychotic medications also :)
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1959097 tn?1327737902
It's not strong enough
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675718 tn?1530033033
i wanted to let you know they treat PTSD with anti-depressants
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675718 tn?1530033033
i see an addictions therapist i attend group therapy individual counseling and i see a psychiatrist and take meds for PTSD from combat,schizophrenia and traumatic brain injury. best way to control it is to see someone specialized in treating PTSD and keep talking about what bothers you :)
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