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Do You Ever Feel That Your Whole Life Revolves Around PTSD?

  • Post starter Post starter Deleted member 1860
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Deleted member 1860

Yes, we all have PTSD (or care for someone who has PTSD). It affects almost every aspect of our lives. But does that mean we make it our whole life?

A few months ago I was approved for disability. I know I am one of the lucky ones who didn't have to fight for years on end, hire a lawyer, etc. Since being approved, I feel that all I am is a disabled person. My last therapist told me that for the last six months I have been in a state of crisis. Yes, the last six months were some of the hardest times of my life, but I am much better now. It just feels incredibly invalidating for someone to pretty much tell you that you are one big walking crisis because it ignores all of the hard work you have done and how far you have come. I am not going to lie. I still have my bad days...really bad days. But gone are the times where I want to kill myself every single day. Gone are the days of constant suicidal ideation.

And to be honest with you, I am tired of constantly going to therapy. Lately, it has been twice a week. And my life is usually rocky for the few days following therapy, so by the time I have returned to a "normal" state, its time for another therapy session which just puts me into yet another state of turmoil.

I know that therapists tell us that therapy is the end all and be all of our healing, but I am at a point where I want to disagree. I need to focus on healing myself as a whole person, and therapy just can't do that. I need to go out and start living again, and stop isolating so much. I feel that I am in a therapy rut!

But to be honest with you, I am searching for a new therapist. My last therapist (in her parting letter) recommended that I be in regular therapy twice a week plus DBT therapy twice a week. Now c'mon, who has the time (or the MONEY) to do that? I am NOT a danger to myself and don't need to be hospitalized. I think what my last therapist failed to realized was that so much therapy was in fact making me WORSE because I couldn't deal with such turmoil, so OFTEN. Even my family recognized that my worst days were therapy days, and agreed that perhaps, for now, I don't need so much therapy.

So anyway, I know I have PTSD, but I am tired of it running my whole life. Does anybody else feel the same way? Any comments are welcome!

Thanks!
 
All I have the energy to say right now is 'ditto.'...........SUCKS doesn't it?

Perhaps I'll be in a better place later and have something helpful to say, but the nightmares last night have wiped me for today, so please forgive.
 
PTSD influences my life, but it isn't my life. I would talk to the new therapist and tell them how often you need them.

Sometimes my life does revolve around ptsd. Sometimes my life isn't phased by it. It sucks that I have to change my life because I have ptsd, but it is still my life. My life does not belong to ptsd. I have to limit the effect that ptsd has on my life. It's a long road, and it's a rocky one, and it isn't easy, but it can be done. That's what I believe anyway. Some days I have to repeat it over and over just to get myself to half heart-edly agree that it could be true. If it's not true, I will make it true because that is what I want. I see it as kind of like a retirement plan. I work really hard for it, so someday I will get to enjoy it.

Hopefully this didn't sound snotty or know it all or anything bad. Was not intended that way at all. It's just my opinion.

Tiger
 
I constantly feel that PTSD is the centre of my life. Just yesterday I was discussing something with my partner, and I said something about 'I wonder if that started when the trauma began', and she just quietly reminded me that not everything is linked to my PTSD... and of course, she is right.
 
When my symptoms are up, I feel like PTSD is my WHOLE life. It makes me angry that something takes over all of my attentions and energy. When I'm doing ok, it's still there. Just as a low, background hum. Never goes away but does have different levels of consumption on me and my life.

Lisa
 
I distract myself from the PTSD, if I didn't work, didn't have a family, house, dog, others to take care of then I could be distracted and get sucked into the "I am PTSD" type of thinking but I don't have time for that.
 
I've hit that point also... it's time to get out more, reconnect in some way and live a little. I'll still need support, but I go to T appointments much less now. Too much for too long is not good... you just wind up caught in a repetitive loop of issues. Take a break, see how you feel. If you have a bad day, you can always call your T for a chat.

Me, I want to get away camping this year... it's been too frigging long!!!
 
Yes, distraction, helping others...............I'm not all PTSD, but it is like a bothersome ingrown toenail or something. "It's always playing in the background," as a viet vet friend of mine says.
 
I just try and achieve what I can achieve and let my own brain work things out for itself most of the time. I enjoy life... I do what I can do, I rest when needed... I just don't let PTSD run my life nowadays, instead I force myself to do things and sometimes it just kicks my arse... but you should never let PTSD hold you back IMHO.
 
I did think there was a recommendation as part of the healing process where therapy sessions should be spaced by a certain amount of time? Since I'm not a professional I hate to say anything definitively, but I'm pretty sure that one needs time to be able to process and desensitize. Twice a week does seem like rather a lot. There's probably an article somewhere with whatever the dynamics are with this.

I tend to disallow myself the PTSD, mention it only rarely and to only a few. It's only since joining here I've been able to speak of it to family. I know it impacts my life in negative ways. I log in here to not be alone with it, I think, but other than that I'm just so dam tired of it I'd rather not think about it.

Anni
 
I am starting to look at PTSD like any other ailment, disability, or handicap. If I was to lose a leg or other limb, or if I had asthma, or even if I had something else like diabetes, I would have to learn to live with it. At present I have other injuries which impede my life, but I manage, so why should PTSD be any different.

Some would say easier said than done, but that is just a point of view. I refuse to let it get the better of me. To get inspiration in my life, I have taken to reading biographies of people who have achieve greatness through adversity and have come to realise that there are a lot of people in this world way worse off than me.

Jimmy
 
realise that there are a lot of people in this world way worse off than me.

Nothing personal Jimmy but I hate these words above, as while there is truth in them and it is good to use them at motivation, there are many times while growing up after being told that sentence I thought to myself "that might be true but who cares about how bad I feel as my pain hurts me and not someone elses???". I just wished that someone acknowledged that I hurt too and it didn't matter that it was lesser than someone else's in the speaker's eyes (my mother).:wall:
 
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