How Treatable Is Ptsd?

[Lee2001]

So how treatable is PTSD? Does it depend on the trauma, duration, or person and their circumstances? I hear of so many people who do seem to recover and lead normal lives. I also hear of the ones who seem to always have its effects of full blown PTSD. I had severe child abuse and traumas as adult. I have always been hyper vigilant I believe but not full blown PTSD. Had some flare ups in the past from what I can tell and horrible PTSD as a child, but now that I am dealing with all of the traumas it's the worst yet. So once you work through some of it does it truly go away or will it always be dormant and come to fruition with life stressors? What's your thoughts?

 

[loui50]

So how treatable is PTSD? Does it depend on the trauma, duration, or person and their circumstances? I...

I don't know the answer, but i am finally dealing with mine and it is getting worse. I am interested in what others have to say about this!!

 

[Renee123]

That's a really good question, one I think about a lot actually. Honestly I think that it depends on the situation and person. But, in my own opinion, if it's big enough to give you PTSD, you probably won't ever forget it. I'm hopeful that you can learn to live with horrible memories and on day be able to make peace with them on some level.

These are just my opinions. Personally, my PTSD I fairly new (2 and a half years), but these are my beliefs and hopes. :)

 

[Deleted member 35429]

I didn't deal with it for 20 yr and then became nearly crippled from PTSD. It was a year of suffering before a I saw a therapist. About 9 yrs into therapy and I am finally starting to see the light. There was a long time where I thought I was never going to recover.

 

[Deleted member 35429]

Oh boy I meant 9 MONTHS! Not 9 yrs. 9 months of therapy and it's finally getting easier. Where is the edit button? :)

 

[Justmehere]

So how treatable is PTSD?

How treatable? Very. My therapist says it's the most treatable major mental illness.

Cureable? Most would say it can't be cured. For some, symptoms can go into remission though with a risk of them returning, but still be symptom free. Most others can get to a place of better management symptom management and symptom reduction with treatment. Some people also fit only a category of symptoms not always improving, but downwards spirals stop. They are better off with treatment than without it.

Treatment generally involves periods of times where symptoms will get worse before they get better.

Does it depend on the trauma, duration, or person and their circumstances?

Yes. It is also influenced by the quality of the therapeutic alliance between patient and providers, accessibility of appropriate care and support systems, peritraumatic validation or invalidation, co-morbid disorders, willingness of client to addresss therapy interfering behaviors and avoidance and use/practice of skills learned, etc, etc...

 

[Justmehere]

Quick detour from main topic -

Where is the edit button? :)

if you click on "tools" on the bottom of a post, there will be an edit button. It is there for an hour after posting for members and longer for premium members. (I'm the typo queen and use it often. ;))

Ok sorry for the detour - back on topic :)

 

[Gadgie]

I remember being told, when they stopped my therapy, that I had too many issues going back over too many years?

Then, when I asked why the therapy was stopped, they said, .............I was cured??

 

[Friday]

How treatable? Extremely. To the point that the entire goal of therapy is getting someone to a point where they're undiagnosable. Meaning they're not expressing any -or enough- symptoms. Will they still have PTSD? Yes. And it's a cyclic disorder. Symptoms come back under stress & when things aren't being managed as they ought. Best parallel I can think of is probably diabetes. Watch your diet/exercise, monitor your blood sugar, maintain insulin levels & absolutely no symptoms of diabetes present / completely normal life able to be lived. Sometimes things head south because of your own actions (quit doing the things you should be doing, or decide to have a baby); sometimes things head south just because / not your fault in the slightest. Either case, your fault or not, & adjustments need to be made. Not an entirely bad thing by a long shot. Especially if you know in advance. Like a diabetic mom going into a pregnancy fully aware of and knowing the risks and taking steps from day one to meet them. Other times it's just FFS!!! :banghead:

Yes. How fully -or how quickly- a person gets this disorder managed to the best it can be very much depends on the person, their circumstances, the nature of their trauma, etc. My own life is a pretty good example of what not to do :P Ways to make shit take longer, and be harder, than they need to. Upshot of that one, though, is that doing shit the hard way makes the easy way f*cking bliss... Once I finally quit doing things the most bass ackwards way imaginable? Oh! Look! A shortcut! :D

 

[sun seeker]

Watch your diet/exercise, monitor your blood sugar, maintain insulin levels & absolutely no symptoms of diabetes present / completely normal life able to be lived.

Good analogy; it just makes me think of how many times I've wanted to snap at some will-meaning but uninformed soul, "Yeah, right, what you're telling me I should do to cure my PTSD is just as reasonable as telling a diabetic that if they tried reaaaaally hard and thought positive enough thoughts, they wouldn't need insulin anymore."

Gah. I'm having a frustrating day, can anyone tell?:banghead:

 

[Lee2001]

Thanks everyone:) This all is very helpful and confirms what I was thinking! So it is very treatable just not curable. It can also produce symptoms at anytime in your life. This is good to know and glad to have all of your input. I can also see how it spends on the support systems, how young, and when it was dealt with..etc. I suppose so much affects outcomes! I do wish you all didn't have this or the memories of what caused this. It's so nice to hear of others like me.... I can relate so much.

 

[sun seeker]

Then, when I asked why the therapy was stopped, they said, .............I was cured??

That's the NHS for you, I expect.