Aa
I don't know if I really have PTSD?
Hi,
I'm 18 years old and female.
I've always had a general fear of cars, whenever I got into them I had a sense of doom, like I was going to die (even if the driver wasn't a bad one),
Towards the end of my Junior year of high school I was driving home from school, going the speed limit (35), and was one car behind the SUV in front of me,
The memory that keeps playing in my head is the SUV slamming on their breaks, it taking me a split second to realize what they just did and slamming on mine, than me slamming into them while going 35mph on a two lane road.
There were four cars involved and it was decided the second car was at fault for not watching the road and noticing the car in front of them had slowed down. (I was the last car in line).
The memory terrifies me, everytime I get into the car I can see the car in front of us as a blue SUV, slamming on it's breaks. It scares me so much I can't enjoy going anywhere like the beach because it's an hours drive and I can't be in the car for more than fifteen minutes.
Whenever I am in the car I always get scared and feel like I'm about to cry. I get palpilations (how is that spelled?)
and panic attacks.
It's starting to drive my mom and my boyfriend crazy because I tell them to slow down ect all the time.
My psychiatrist diagnosed PTSD and gave me meds for it, but my mom won't let me take them.
At this point I'm not AS afraid of cars anymore, I still get really scared but not as bad.
So I'm wondering if I really have PTSD? Or if it was tauma?
I'm 18 years old and female.
I've always had a general fear of cars, whenever I got into them I had a sense of doom, like I was going to die (even if the driver wasn't a bad one),
Towards the end of my Junior year of high school I was driving home from school, going the speed limit (35), and was one car behind the SUV in front of me,
The memory that keeps playing in my head is the SUV slamming on their breaks, it taking me a split second to realize what they just did and slamming on mine, than me slamming into them while going 35mph on a two lane road.
There were four cars involved and it was decided the second car was at fault for not watching the road and noticing the car in front of them had slowed down. (I was the last car in line).
The memory terrifies me, everytime I get into the car I can see the car in front of us as a blue SUV, slamming on it's breaks. It scares me so much I can't enjoy going anywhere like the beach because it's an hours drive and I can't be in the car for more than fifteen minutes.
Whenever I am in the car I always get scared and feel like I'm about to cry. I get palpilations (how is that spelled?)
and panic attacks.
It's starting to drive my mom and my boyfriend crazy because I tell them to slow down ect all the time.
My psychiatrist diagnosed PTSD and gave me meds for it, but my mom won't let me take them.
At this point I'm not AS afraid of cars anymore, I still get really scared but not as bad.
So I'm wondering if I really have PTSD? Or if it was tauma?
I forgot!
Get therapy. Your Mom is right. You probably don't really need meds as much as therapy.
Start walking, as that is a form of EMDR.
EMDR can probably help you recover completely, or pretty close. You are young, and there has not been 30 years since the trauma. Sounds like only one trauma. Much easier to take care of now, so do not put it off.
You may also be able to claim therapy on the accident insurance. Even if you already signed off. PTSD does not necessarily manifest itself right away. So you can make a subsequent claim (possibly $ for emotional blah blah blah... not my forte).
Get therapy. Your Mom is right. You probably don't really need meds as much as therapy.
Start walking, as that is a form of EMDR.
EMDR can probably help you recover completely, or pretty close. You are young, and there has not been 30 years since the trauma. Sounds like only one trauma. Much easier to take care of now, so do not put it off.
You may also be able to claim therapy on the accident insurance. Even if you already signed off. PTSD does not necessarily manifest itself right away. So you can make a subsequent claim (possibly $ for emotional blah blah blah... not my forte).
Hi
A car accident is TRAUMA.
PTSD is:
Post TRAUMATIC Stress Disorder.
When you got in the accident, your fight/flight/freeze response was activated. As it should have been. That response is there to save our life in emergencies. That response is what helps humans to be able to adapt to so many environments. (I only wish I could have used it to memorize the multiplication tables)
If, immediately after the accident, you did not express your feelings, and/or your feelings were dismissed, ignored, or neglected, you can develop PTSD.
Really, your mind takes a photo of the survival tactic you used, to live through the accident. Since noone corrects it, the mind says "well, this and that made this bad thing happen. So when this or that happens in my environment, I need to do MIND PHOTO AUTOMATICALLY INSERTED HERE. Then we may add less lethal aspects of the incident to the list.
So if the car that slammed on his breaks was yellow, your subconscious may have added yellow (hypothetically) to what makes you panic. In that case you might be confused, that a red car can do almost anything without reaction. But a yellow car parked and booted will cause you to sweat.
I hope that helps.
(meds are a last resort)
A car accident is TRAUMA.
PTSD is:
Post TRAUMATIC Stress Disorder.
When you got in the accident, your fight/flight/freeze response was activated. As it should have been. That response is there to save our life in emergencies. That response is what helps humans to be able to adapt to so many environments. (I only wish I could have used it to memorize the multiplication tables)
If, immediately after the accident, you did not express your feelings, and/or your feelings were dismissed, ignored, or neglected, you can develop PTSD.
Really, your mind takes a photo of the survival tactic you used, to live through the accident. Since noone corrects it, the mind says "well, this and that made this bad thing happen. So when this or that happens in my environment, I need to do MIND PHOTO AUTOMATICALLY INSERTED HERE. Then we may add less lethal aspects of the incident to the list.
So if the car that slammed on his breaks was yellow, your subconscious may have added yellow (hypothetically) to what makes you panic. In that case you might be confused, that a red car can do almost anything without reaction. But a yellow car parked and booted will cause you to sweat.
I hope that helps.
(meds are a last resort)
Hi!
I have PTSD, and replaying the memory like that, fixating on one detail, like the color of the car in front of you, or a sound or something. I am pretty sure if you have an extreme emotional reaction to that detail, a reaction that is not like your normal reaction to cars, or traffic, well, that might be PTSD. Since that is what you were diagnosed with, I would say it is safe to say you have some kind of anxiety around cars.
The question is, is it interfering with your ability to be the grown up person that you are.???
If the answer is yes, my personal experience with PTSD is that CBT helps. It helps me pinpoint my triggers so that I can plan for them, come up with back up plans for situations I am likely to have a panic attack or "ptsd attack" (I don't really know if there is a special word for what happens when I have a ptsd attack, but it is different than a regular panic or anxiety attack. My whole body seems under someone elses control)
Anyway.
1. Why is your mom with-holding your medication? You are 18 and it was prescribed to you correct?
2. Personal experience of mine says if you do have PTSD, more therapy is better than less. Even if it is social therapy. (but not social self-medication if you catch my drift)
Walking the dog and waving to the neighbors, or walking 15 minutes a day through your neighborhood if you can will help as well. It helps keep your body as "grounded" in reality as possible, so I find if I walk everyday, even if I can only get to the mailbox and back to bed that day, I can deal with my triggers better when they do come-up in my life, instead of avoiding them, or letting the PTSD turn into other things.
If you do have it, it can manifest in lots of different ways, sometimes it doesn't even seem connected to the trauma intil you are in a string enough place emotional to really look at it and see the connections, even the ones that hurt your feelings or scare you.
With PTSD it is almost impossible to do this without a therapist, and it is impossible to do with your family unless they are also committed to helping you overcome PTSD.
What makes you doubt that you have PTSD?
(just curious)
~pb
I have PTSD, and replaying the memory like that, fixating on one detail, like the color of the car in front of you, or a sound or something. I am pretty sure if you have an extreme emotional reaction to that detail, a reaction that is not like your normal reaction to cars, or traffic, well, that might be PTSD. Since that is what you were diagnosed with, I would say it is safe to say you have some kind of anxiety around cars.
The question is, is it interfering with your ability to be the grown up person that you are.???
If the answer is yes, my personal experience with PTSD is that CBT helps. It helps me pinpoint my triggers so that I can plan for them, come up with back up plans for situations I am likely to have a panic attack or "ptsd attack" (I don't really know if there is a special word for what happens when I have a ptsd attack, but it is different than a regular panic or anxiety attack. My whole body seems under someone elses control)
Anyway.
1. Why is your mom with-holding your medication? You are 18 and it was prescribed to you correct?
2. Personal experience of mine says if you do have PTSD, more therapy is better than less. Even if it is social therapy. (but not social self-medication if you catch my drift)
Walking the dog and waving to the neighbors, or walking 15 minutes a day through your neighborhood if you can will help as well. It helps keep your body as "grounded" in reality as possible, so I find if I walk everyday, even if I can only get to the mailbox and back to bed that day, I can deal with my triggers better when they do come-up in my life, instead of avoiding them, or letting the PTSD turn into other things.
If you do have it, it can manifest in lots of different ways, sometimes it doesn't even seem connected to the trauma intil you are in a string enough place emotional to really look at it and see the connections, even the ones that hurt your feelings or scare you.
With PTSD it is almost impossible to do this without a therapist, and it is impossible to do with your family unless they are also committed to helping you overcome PTSD.
What makes you doubt that you have PTSD?
(just curious)
~pb
It is also your thoughts making you feel bad, I expect before you get into the car, you are winding yourself up thinking about it, so learn to distract yourself before and after you get into the car, when you feel yourself getting panicky tell your self,' I am Okay' 'nothing is happening,' I will feel okay soon ' and cthorne is right expose yourself,I couldnt drive over bridges , I actually said to my self this is silly , just do it, and I did , sometimes we have to stop thinking get tough and just do it ...good luck
You need to gradually expose yourself to the situation that causes anxiety and stay in it until the anxiety fades... like first just sitting in a car until you have no anxiety, then maybe thinking about driving while sitting there.... then maybe a very slow drive around the block.... etc. The important thing is that you do NOT end the exposure UNTIL your anxiety fades down to, say, a 3 out of 10. If you end it sooner, or out of desperation, you will make it worse. Keep this up.... you will get over it.
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