Name Something Positive That Has Come As A Result Of Your Ptsd?

[lostforgottensoul]

I was forced into therapy due to my anger explosions caused by PTSD and if I wouldnt of been, I wouldnt be in therapy and likely wouldnt be alive.

So im not grateful I have it really but i am grateful it pushed someone to push me into therapy.

 

[ladee]

@Joan that is me too. Art gave me a way to express myself. Still does. So thank you for sharing that.
I don't think I was ever fake. If anything I was too real for most people.My credo has always been " lead me, follow me or get the f-ck out of my way".
I just didn't have a name for the rollercoaster ride or the rabbit hole. But when finally diagnosed in the 90's I got the ground running to heal as much as I could and learn how to manage the rest.
Good times, bad times , here we are doing what we need to do. I am somewhat lost without my laptop. Missing my peers and the support here. How did I get here without y'all? Oh, it was that "I am strong " thing!!
Miss eveyone big time.
(excuse typos, on my phone)

 

[Tinyflame]

Only the people here.

I don't believe PTSD is a disorder

Perhaps for some it isn't. But I think for anyone it harms or for whom it harms, or burdens others, it is.

I think anything that can contribute to taking your life, shortens your life, +/or causes grief & lost potential I don't find as a positive.

I experience the world a lot like a horse does. It's all about survival and threat assessment.

Yes. But honestly I would have prefered more to life than that. So I don't think about it.

 

[EveHarrington]

I very much agree with @Junebug

 

[Deleted member 34328]

hummm, this is a really interesting thread. Thank you @Panda Bear for initiating it. I know I'm jumping in rather late. I apologize for that.

As you said @Mal Content , I think I disagree with your opinion of PTSD and its being a disorder, but think the question is a good one. I do like the idea or belief that you put out there. Does give me pause to think about it.

I would say that I have gained nothing from the PTSD itself - since it's the result of a series of traumas that I wouldn't wish on anyone. But I have gained a lot of insight into myself that I might never have seen had it not been for the treatment. So I would say I'm thankful for my therapist and support person for listening and asking good questions.

I never knew I could express emotion so strongly through art work until therapy. Now it's become a real source of comfort (when its just for me - not a therapy tool) I also started painting on large flat rocks that my friend found along a beach in Scotland. I've created some beautiful landscape images that all have a special meaning for me. I keep them private because I don't want to share what the inspiration was. It's very rewarding for me though, to see something come alive that I didn't plan. The creation sort of creates itself. I never plan the end result. It just comes out of me. I'm very thankful for that.

I'm a musician and have developed a huge respect for music therapy.

I have a pet as well, and appreciate animal therapy as well.

I would say I feel a huge compassion towards others experiencing the horrors of their trauma. I can identify what's not spoken more than what is verbalized. Hear the words between the lines.

I bought a rabbit once who was traumatized for some reason by people. He exibited a lot of reactions that I could relate to. I decided to meet him at his level and help him learn to trust again. Thought about what helped me most and began to apply some it to the rabbit. Eventually he was ready to be passed along to a new home as a pet to a family. That was very rewarding.

I have 3 children. One is 11 on the threshold of teenage questions and uncertainties. I've encouraged her and shared some breathing techniques as well as thought stopage, replacement imagery with her. She finds a lot of security in it. She doesn't need to know where I learned these things.

So in all, no, the PTSD has given me nothing but horrible memories and violation that should never have happened, but the therapy has opened a whole new world.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

The creation sort of creates itself. I never plan the end result.

Art at its best. My best pieces werent planned and i barely remember doing. Thinking is the opposite side of the brain than creating is.

I love that you painted on rocks that are just specially for you and no one else. I keep all of my orginals and if i sell pieces they are copies of the orginals unless someone is paying for the orginal and i go in it knowing that. Those orginals are for me and some are hanging in my house. Others are tucked away in special private areas and there are pieces I wont sell or share.

As an artist, you reserve the right to have special pieces just for you.

I bought a rabbit once who was traumatized for some reason by people. He exibited a lot of reactions that I could relate to.

Most traumatized animals exibt the same symptoms of traumatized people. I used to volunteer and work with many traumatized animals and they really do have a lot of the same struggles.

It is rewarding when you can foster one to that place of being ok being a pet. To know that animal can accept love again is so rewarding.

I am one that would say being a trauma survivor and having PTSD ruined my life. Took away my entire family, caused so many struggles i shouldnt have but the more I think about it the more i see i am way more humble, way more understanding, way more empathic, and want to help way more than if i wasnt a trauma survivor. It also showed me the people that werent suppprtive and were just superficially in my life.

So benefits of PTSD, none. Benefits of being a survivor, of therapy and recovery and healing, many.

 

[shimmerz]

A balancing out of empathy. Less empathy for everyone else, and more for myself. I was absolutely anorexic when it came to having any compassion for myself.

 

[illusionist]

My relationship with my partner.

He saw the strength I had ( have ? ) to fight what I fight. He admires me and respects me for it.

 

[Deleted member 33052]

From reading the many comments, I hear that if nothing else, PTSD was the impetus needed for many of us to grow.

I appreciate that not everyone regards it as good thing. But, no matter what I read or hear, I can't see it as anything other than a very insistent request from my body to get the poison out - while I still can. And frankly, since I'm stuck with it regardless, I'd rather work with it than against it.

 

[sedna]

Because I disassociate so rigidly, most days are like a clean slate. Sort of like the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Thats has good and bad points obviously, but I really work the positive aspects. Most people associate a clear mind and intense curiosity with high intelligence, especially when they see it in older or middle aged people. I get a lot of respect and credit for that quality.

In reality, my minds clear because I block out my entire history so I can function. I'm intensely curious because I forget details from ADD and avoid noticing people and personalities by focusing intensely on projects. I'm really only pretty average, my quick thinking and accurate big concepts at lightning speed, are really a product of complex ptsd , so is the adhd.

That old saying " what nourishes also destroys you " can go the other way. In my case " what destroys me also nourishes me " it's a little more positive I think.

 

[Hope69]

compassion. I understand people differently. But I would still prefer to be ignorant and blissful. :)

 

[Panda Bear]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond to this thread with such thoughtful things to say.

I feel like it's really important for into gain a different perspective on our struggles and areas of our life that have been so neglected and unloved. We tend to loose sight of what we are doing well, what has changed and what has become so great as we've grown through our process.

I was absolutely anorexic when it came to having any compassion for myself.

Well said....well said!