We Don't Get Better Do We?

[Bordo66]

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Eventually, anyway..

for some reason this is funny :)

O well, I guess now I'm part of the club

 

[intothelight]

Yes, we do get better. I am becoming pleasantly surprised at what "better" entails.

 

[Reclusive]

Just because PTSD isn't curable doesn't mean we don't get better. We learn coping skills and we conquer wrong thinking and we learn to be the people we are who just happened to have these experiences that cause a little extra song and dance. In any case, I know *I* will get better because I'm not living my life this way forever.

 

[Bordo66]

I'm not planning to stay like this forever too, but..............

aa what the heck, ill see what happens!

 

[caliaviator]

Well, It's honestly hard to see me live the rest of my life like this, so I'm out to improve myself and get into a better place. Right now I'm in the mindset of "Anywhere is better than here so I'll keep moving". Though it would be really nice to be able to settle down in a nice quiet area in my mind and relax there. Though I have to admit it is REALLY hard to keep moving sometimes.

 

[Grama-Herc]

No, we don't get better, we manage and we go on. Learning everyday a little more about ourselves. But, there is one thing all of you have failed to do!

You need to mourn the loss of your former self. You need to acknowledge that the person you were is gone from us and until you mourn that loss and let that person go, you WILL remain stuck in a saddness you can't identify.

 

[caliaviator]

No, we don't get better, we manage and we go on. Learning everyday a little more about ourselves. But, there is one thing all of you have failed to do!

You need to mourn the loss of your former self. You need to acknowledge that the person you were is gone from us and until you mourn that loss and let that person go, you WILL remain stuck in a saddness you can't identify.

You're right. I really need to mourn who I was and let go. I've been concentrating on fixing who I was for so long that I really didn't recognize who I really am, which is the man AFTER I overcame adversity and managed to have some control over my life; which is who I am becoming. Though the trick is do I keep what reminds me of the past like people? Or do I let them all go too? Some people still remind me of the worst moments in my life but yet i still keep them around. You really touched base on something important here.

 

[just me here]

you cannot change the past, the past affects who you are, so we are affected by something we cannot change, and we will be forever because the past is forever and the affects are irreversable.

learning to adjust to who you are now, learning to accept it and live with it, mourning the loss of the past version of you, getting better at managing it- all BS.

We don't get better. For every lousy thing someone did that affected you, there is another lousy person out there that will do another lousy thing to you or another victim. It is as unstoppable as weather.

It rains, we get wet. Suit up or get soaked. You will not find a way to stop the rain, and learning to live with being wet is just plain a rotten way to go. Put on your best most leakproof and resilient rain coat and don't be fooled by what looks like a sun break, if you take off your coat you will not be ready for the inevitable next storm.

sorry, but we don't get better- do we?

 

[Reclusive]

You're totally right about mourning the person lost. But it doesn't mean we can't learn from that person and relearn some traits. I will probably never be the endlessly perk, devil may care, I do what I want for my own amusement, idealistic and social person I once was. But I can learn to quit trying to be the perfect person for everyone I know, learn to have a little fun, enjoy being around people to some extent, and explore my passions again. And I'm probably still idealistic.

I'm not going to let PTSD become my identity. It's going to have to settle with being something I cope with as I go about my real life. I know it's going to be a big ugly long drawn out battle to get there - but I've been through worse.

 

[Missy]

I'm shooting for better. Healing is out. So is forgiveness. And peace.

 

[Grama-Herc]

OK! I address this to "just me here" I ask you WHY this is all BS? Acceptance is, IMHO ,necessary. Adjustment is needed in order to exist in some kind of peace. Mourning the loss of a self is natural and needed in order to move on. And no, we do not get better. We learn how to live with this and still have a life.

Until I managed to accomplish all these things(some better than others) I was living a very miserable life. My life now is not perfect, no ones is, but at least I've been able to grasp what PTSD is, what it has done and is doing to me and this has made it easier to manage a condition that will not go away.

IMHO, fighting this and denying it only makes us worse and suffer more than we need to. In this case I truly believe the old adage "Knowledge is power". So any knowledge we have abouut PTSD should give us some form of power over managing ouselves.

So how can all this be BS? I ask you, explain your reasoning, please

 

[OKRADLAK]

I like to think we can be rebuilt. I rebuilt parts only to have them smashed again because they are fragile when you have to built your life over. I keep trying.............