How Treatable Is Ptsd?

[Lee2001]

That's the NHS for you, I expect.

@sun seeker I totally get that and I am finding how misunderstood PTSD really is to a lot of people! That's why it's hard to share this with anyone

 

[EveHarrington]

I think it's very treatable!

Every time I start to think that I have symptoms that just won't end, I am amazed that something breaks and my healing propels forward.

Do I think I'll have to deal with this for life? No doubt about it. But the great think is that I'm finding new ways to work through the obstacle course of PTSD.

I'm currently in a place where I'm working through very real world problems and it's nice because I'm not sitting here feeling it's just a PTSD thing, nobody understands, etc. Rather it's a more common struggle and I'm sort of shocked (understatement) that I'm not having any freak out episodes whatsoever.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

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

Im with everyone else, manageable, but I would also say yes, it depends on trauma to how long "managed" takes. And it also depends on the person. Are they applying new tools into their every day life?

 

[Deleted member 34328]

This is a really good thread! So glad I stumbled onto it. It's a question I've often asked myself.

I guess I've always agreed with @EveHarrington treatable but not curable. A hard thing to even try to accept. However, I really do think it depends on the person, the circumstances, the type of therapy you've had, being able to work with what you've been taught.

I think there will always be stressors, but if the platform is maintained, the stressors don't have to have the control. You do. Apply the tools learned and life can be lived. More than just lived. Embraced even. For me, that's what I'm looking forward to. I'll never be free from the memories of the past, but they don't have to control me. - or won't always control my responses.

Just my opinion.

 

[ladee]

Have been on my healing journey for a very long time. The major traumas have been dealt with. Triggers are few and far between. Everything said here is the way it works. Managed but not cured.
If I may add one very important thing, learning and maintaining self care is one of the major practices to maintain manageability.
At the beginning of the year I was preparing to retire. Self care had been very neglected. I was past exhausted. But was still relatively symptom free. A situation blindsided me and I went straight to the rabbit hole.
I spent the first four months of my retirement working my way back.
The good news is, I had the tools and experience to bring myself out of it. The bad news was I had let myself get so exhausted it took twice as long.
So, for me, self care is very vital to our recovery journey.
So am hoping that self care becomes a daily part of your healing.
Back to being trigger free. But have to stay on top of stressors.
Hoping your journey is very healing and you take time for yourself everyday.

 

[Lee2001]

Oh I am seeing how self care is soooo important! I did not realize this until recently and from what you all said, it's like a light bulb moment.. Lol Yeah so I will work on this for sure. Part of the reason this all blew up on me was hubby is deployed, and have new baby and four year old, which left zero me time and large amounts of stress. So I get it now! Thank you for your encouraging, kind words and input... Really helps me make changes

 

[Gadgie]

That's the NHS for you, I expect.

Aye! and if I had stayed in Holland, I would have had the operation and had this f****ing tube removed months ago!

 

[Panda Bear]

Dealing with mine made things worse, but they are getting better as I near the end of processing the trauma. Sure, I'm in the midst of a major hick-up right now....but the main thing to be looking at is the duration and severity of those hick-ups. They're much better.

Things are way better when I look back at my previous life.

But I'll always have PTSD and I'll always have to take care of myself. Be mindful, acknowledged when life is off and even when I'm done seeing T weekly, chances are good I'll need him on some level for the rest of my life.

 

[anthony]

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

To answer you broadly, it goes a little like this.

1. 60% will fully recover PTSD symptoms with little effort or therapeutic intervention (1 - 12 months)
2. 20% will fully recover PTSD symptoms requiring extended therapy and self work (1 -2 years)
3. 13% will fully recover PTSD symptoms requiring far more in depth treatments and variations (3 - 10 years)
4. 7% will roughly never fully recover, will have to self manage the remainder of their lifetime, continuous therapy / self help to progressively chip away at the issues and control symptoms more efficiently, for minimal impact as possible, when combined with daily self management and regime.

It is possible that a person may actually move through those groups within their lifetime, if continued traumatic events occur, where they eventually become unrecoverable, even though they fully recovered previously.

 

[EveHarrington]

<<<prays I'm in category 3>>>

 

[Lee2001]

Thank you @anthony... that puts it all into perspective! Those percentages make it look like very few have life long symptoms.

 

[heyheyhey]

Thank you everyone for posting such uplifting and helpful posts!! Framed as something highly manageable (though not 'curable') really gives me hope and helps me feel so much better :)!