Just Read This...

[EmmaOwl]

because you have done the hard work on other trauma, whilst PTSD attempts to use it against you all over again, resilience kicks in and you rebound those aspects mighty rapid. It will be the new issue that may test resilience, however, with practice, one could theorise that recovery only becomes quicker

The caveat being, you really need to have, maybe not a cure, but an *extremely* solid foundation. When I was in my teens, I'd been in therapy to deal with childhood trauma. I was doing okay, in school, working, etc. Several years later, a second trauma STILL brought me under. Instead of adding to any foundation, the adult-onset trauma symptoms left me very weak, in body and mind, and I almost died - not from the trauma itself but from dealing with the aftermath.

a long, slow process of chipping away at the messages we've taken in, learning what safe relationships look like, building basic trust. A good therapist can support this work in a way that may be (will be) painful, but not overwhelming. I know for me the process has been incredibly slow at times

Yes. This. Slow..but when I think back some years..see the "almost died" part above...

I'm so much better now, but I still find it difficult to count improvement in years. My therapist reminds me once in a while. I get knocked down easily - The other day my mother said, "We've [she and my father] made you worse. You're so much worse." I ask her to look at my progress in years and she refuses or seems unable to acknowledge this. (She is fairly ill herself, and not always rational.) It makes my own job, treating myself, helping myself, it's all a bit more difficult to look back and see progress. But...

The time is going to pass anyway, better to get in there and actively work on your own healing

"And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

[lostforgottensoul]

The time is going to pass anyway, better to get in there and actively work on your own healing than sit on the sidelines hoping you'll get better all by yourself.

Indeed! I remember trying, for 6 years, to get better and I come on here and made those movements inside of 6 months. I think how factors in but if one would ask what the difference was, I'd say trying to getting better by lump, one big lump, instead of piece by piece. And so then I could run in a straight line instead of chasing my tail quickly. I just needed to be shown how. So, I think many may not know how. But true either way.

 

[Gs172003]

I told my therapist about this group and how much it helps. She wasn't suprised at all. She said, of course! You no longer feel alone!

 

[EmmaOwl]

I told my therapist about this group and how much it helps. She wasn't suprised at all. She said, of cou...

Mine was wary! Didn't know what could happen. I've had bad experience with in-person support groups, but this is different. It's not so much that it's anonymous, it's the way things are set up, the way people gather together in an online space. The way I see it, anyway.

A couple of support groups I was in (years and years ago) were basically a game of "Can you top this?" I had no interest in participating in that, and I was called treatment-resistant for that! But here I am. And my therapist thinks this is (mostly*) good for me. I don't have much contact with people IRL.

*The caveat being, of course, that I keep myself well and do not get dragged down. I don't think I'm in danger of that... People understand. I stopped posting for about a week and thought I'd be "forgotten" and it would be difficult to return...but it seems ok so far. :) I have a tendency to worry more about others before thinking about myself... I've been working to keep that balanced. Seems ok so far!

 

[lostforgottensoul]

She said, of course! You no longer feel alone!

My therapist says the same thing. He found the site but still has said those exact words quite a few times.