Post Traumatic Stress Disorder related to rape?

[lucy1490]

I guess its easier to talk about this with strangers (no offense) than people I actually know. When I was seventeen I was raped at a party by someone I knew. We had once been in a relationship but a few weeks before the party I broke it off and we agreed to stay friends. After it happened I went into a kind of trance and even though it sounds sick I changed for the better. I quiet using drugs, I attempted to focus on school and I dumped the people who I thought were my friends but in the end I realized we're just using me. I changed for the better and for the worst. My best friend told me I didn't even sound the same, or walk the same. I was just in a daze. I wanted to pretend that nothing happened and put the horrible event as far back in my mind as possible. And for so long it worked. A couple of months after it happened that I started dating my wonderful boyfriend and we've been together a little over three years now. Everything seemed to be going fine until I saw the guy that raped me working at a fast food restaurant one morning. See his friends and neighbors told me he killed himself so it was a shock to see him. Ever since then the nightmares have come back. They used to be so fuzzy and distant but now there so real its hard to imagine every sleeping again. And to make it worst during intercourse I'll have flashbacks and freak out. Eventually after one embarrassing night I had no choice but to tell my boyfriend what had happened. He did his best to try to comfort me and mentioned that I might suffer from PTSD. I'm not sure though. I don't understand how after more than three years every horrible detail is coming back. I'm scared to sleep, almost too scared to walk out of my door half the time. I had a panic attack just the other day walking into a gas station because I thought this guy at the counter was him even though he looked completely opposite. I thought PTSD was for people who came out of the war or who suffered traumatic accidents. Does anyone have any idea what might be happening to me?

[Weffette]

PTSD...for sure.  If you avoid situations that remind you of a traumatic event, have nightmares and memories affect particular areas in your life...its PTSD.
Counseling will surely help...I also suffer from PTSD...from things that happened to me over 45 years ago!  I had buried the memories so deep for so long...I don't know what brought them back to the surface, other than my dad dying...but the memories came back with a vengence.  Anti anxiety medication and therapy are really the only things that can be done for PTSD.  Learning HOW to deal with the memory of the "event" and understanding WHY you react the way you do are some of the things you will focus on during therapy.  Nip it in the bud NOW...don't let it run your life...get back to being you again! Please...seek help and beat this...you will be so much more happy and content and your boyfriend is a saint, too!

[ejc26c]

It sounds exactly like PTSD. I have it and I am now 24. I was molested for 3 years by a family member  when I was 11-14 and it didn't bother me. I did well in school, got to the end of my sophomore year of college and then at finals I started having flashbacks and nightmares...so basically six years after the abuse stopped. I went in to talk to someone at the counseling center and was diagnosed. I have been in therapy ever since. I am not saying that it is an easy process by any means but it is a necessary one. In the times that I gave up or did not believe in the therapy process I would completely fall apart.... I even attempted suicide twice...the last time I was put in the ICU. Please take it from me get help.... I have seen women who haven't gotten help and believe it or not they are in a lot worse shape than me.
Take care,
Elisabeth

[whatalife713]

I have been in the same situation please seek counseling it will affect the rest of your life if you do not I did not I wish I had thngs would probably be a little different in my life

[beenit]

Yes. I agree with drifter0213. Counseling is a must.  It will take time But you will be a new person and have a different outlook on life/problems after.FEMALE counselor.

[brice1967]

I'm no doctor but this sounds exactly like PTSD to me.  Seek counseling as the folks above mentioned.  If you do not address this, it will affect the rest of your life.

[drifter0213]

you should seek counseling :)

[cheshchesh819]

Your boyfriend is right it does sound like you are suffering PTSD,you went through an horiffic ordeal and you tried too forget about it and move on,but the truth is that you can only put things on the back burner and until you face it it will haunt you forever,what you need to remember here is that you are the victim in all this and you have nothing to be ashamed of,what he did to you was wrong and against the law and he needs reporting,whilst he is carrying on with life yours is in turmoil,you really need to seek out help with this like a rape councillor,until you face this head on however scary you will not be able to to put it to rest,not that you will ever forget but at least you will be able to learn how to cope with it better,you have the love and support of your bf which is an added bouns,dont let this guy ruin anymore of your life get the help you need and fight this,please keep me informed and good luck.