How long does it take to recover from trauma?

[binchilling]

How long does it take to recover from trauma? A few years, ten years? Is there anyone among us who has recovered from trauma?

 

[Teasel]

Depends, on the person, their resources and resiliency, the support around them, the trauma, how soon after they seek help if needed.

How long is a piece of string?

Yes people do heal, maybe not 100% to how they were before, but some heal enough to live fairly symptom free most of the time.

 

[arfie]

hm-m-m-m-m. . . may i answer a question with a question?

how long does it take to recover from a natural disaster?
for sure, it is a BIG question with a unique and complex set of variables for each and every case.

my own recovery is from child sex trafficking, a la 1960/70's. i don't expect to ever be "cured," but i'm learning to love the woman recovery has helped me grow into. small steps, big faith and lots of prayer. leave the measuring sticks in the carpentry closet.

 

[scout86]

How do you define "recover"?

 

[binchilling]

NO

How do you define "recover"?

No more PTSD Symptoms?

 

[scout86]

No more PTSD Symptoms?

I;m still kind of thinking about that.....

I imagine that whether or not that's even possible is going to depend on the person. Personally, it seems like PTSD has been part of my life so long there is no "before" go miss or to go back to. It's been a process of sorting out what's a "symptom" and what's "normal". (I continue to be surprised. ) Myself, I look at it like a lot of injuries, say a bad burn. It heals with time, more or less, depending on the injury, but there's going to be a scar. People seem to vary in how much having scars bothers them..... Anyway, I don't know that you can give a time frame. It depends on too much that's hard to know. But, things can and do get better. (With work, and I guess with help.)

 

[Survivor3]

Wow that's a good question . To a point of "no more ptsd symptoms".... I guess it can depend on the nature of the trauma and over what length of time it occurred over.

A speciality psychiatrist said she doesn't see me as having ptsd. That she sees the symptoms of depression and anxiety and that I have a history of complex trauma. Not one thing but f*cking loads over a long period of time.

It took the mental health team 13 years to come to that conclusion, something which really could have been summarised in one or two meetings. So I never had professional help for decades. I can only reflect on getting better from seeing my last counselor and stopping drinking alcohol and smoking. So that was 4 years roughly to see any real major improvements. And I am completely different to how I used to be.

I'm not sure if I've ever had proper flashbacks. I've had very bad memories and anxiety and dissociation but actually thinking my reality has completely changed and I completely believe I'm back in that situation...?? Don't think so...

I don't think it can ever be cured 100%.

Massive progress can be made to the point of being so much better than your health was before but memories and scars will always remain. All it can take is a "bad" day, and a wrong move and your sideways again.

People on this site give me hope, their stories and achievements though. And I personally never thought I'd be aswell as I am now. On the whole, I'm enjoying life. I've put the work in and it's paid off.

 

[Movingforward10]

I'm kind of seeing it similar to having a back problem. A sudden move can cause a twinge and reignite original symptoms. You heal it again. Fine for ages. Until another sudden move.

I have no idea if it is the same for recovering from trauma. And I had initially thought: couple chats about rape and off I pop with the rest of my life.

But I'm begining to see that life has ups and downs and it's easier at some times than at others. So it might not be a constant thing of: healed for ever. But a place of symptoms have gone but something in life makes some come back, but we're in a better place with more skills to understand what the symptoms are and how to manage?

 

[whiteraven]

So many factors involved in healing. Availability of help, additional resources used, willingness to get help and use resources, financial means, reactions to the trauma you had, your own attitude, and so many other things.

 

[binchilling]

Wow that's a good question . To a point of "no more ptsd symptoms".... I guess it can depend on the nature of the trauma and over what length of time it occurred over.

A speciality psychiatrist said she doesn't see me as having ptsd. That she sees the symptoms of depression and anxiety and that I have a history of complex trauma. Not one thing but f*cking loads over a long period of time.

It took the mental health team 13 years to come to that conclusion, something which really could have been summarised in one or two meetings. So I never had professional help for decades. I can only reflect on getting better from seeing my last counselor and stopping drinking alcohol and smoking. So that was 4 years roughly to see any real major improvements. And I am completely different to how I used to be.

I'm not sure if I've ever had proper flashbacks. I've had very bad memories and anxiety and dissociation but actually thinking my reality has completely changed and I completely believe I'm back in that situation...?? Don't think so...

I don't think it can ever be cured 100%.

Massive progress can be made to the point of being so much better than your health was before but memories and scars will always remain. All it can take is a "bad" day, and a wrong move and your sideways again.

People on this site give me hope, their stories and achievements though. And I personally never thought I'd be aswell as I am now. On the whole, I'm enjoying life. I've put the work in and it's paid off.

I don't think I will ever enjoy life as much as I did before. That I could even enjoy it.

 

[binchilling]

So many factors involved in healing. Availability of help, additional resources used, willingness to get help and use resources, financial means, reactions to the trauma you had, your own attitude, and so many other things.

My trauma was childhood trauma, and I had no symptoms until one day I started experiencing dissociation. Since then, depression, anxiety, everything has been added.

 

[Survivor3]

I don't think I will ever enjoy life as much as I did before. That I could even enjoy it.

How old are you roughly?