We Don't Get Better Do We?

[just me here]

probably not a good idea to start out laying a term like BS on someones story about being dropped by a therapist- it happens, alot. No BS.
Sorry your friends pulling away, that happens too.

Anyway, we all suffer from the same disorder here, and comparing one case to another is like saying "finger injury-rock", "finger injury-hammer", "finger injury-light socket", "finger injury-small dog", "finger injury- you get the idea.

lots of help here and you won't get turned away at intake if you don't start out by calling BS on someone that might offer you some valuable help someday. Welcome, obliterated.

 

[incongruent]

probably not a good idea to start out laying a term like BS on someones story about being dropped by a therapist- it happens, alot. No BS.
Sorry your friends pulling away, that happens too.

Anyway, we all suffer from the same disorder here, and comparing one case to another is like saying "finger injury-rock", "finger injury-hammer", "finger injury-light socket", "finger injury-small dog", "finger injury- you get the idea.

lots of help here and you won't get turned away at intake if you don't start out by calling BS on someone that might offer you some valuable help someday. Welcome, obliterated.

I think you misunderstood the context of the 'BS' I'm pretty sure Obliterated was saying that it was BS of the therapist to do that. Especially considering the comment they made afterwords about being turned away.

 

[stuff]

Just because PTSD isn't curable doesn't mean you can't make peace with it. I still struggle, but knowing exactly what I'm struggling with and having tools to fight it is empowering. I can identify my own triggers now, and why they are triggers and somehow that makes me stronger. I have days when everything explodes and I feel like it's the end of the world, but I know now that is my PTSD exploding and making me feel like it's the end of the world and not reality. I know the suicidal feelings I occasionally have are not MY suicidal feelings, but my history acting like a bully and attempting to erode the self-confidence that I really do have. Every single day, I get up in the morning and remind myself that I am still here, and I lived through every single experience of my past. I might be a little battle scarred but holy s*&t am I tough, and there's always someone who has lived through something worse than I have. I'd be doing myself a great injustice by giving up because it is incurable. It's great that we have each other to talk to, but so many of us hide from others. Not enough people know or understand what PTSD is or what it's like to live with it. There's so much stigma attached to that diagnosis. I'm trying hard to be open about it these days. If someone wants to judge me for that, so be it, but I feel no shame for being myself. We are not stereotypes portrayed in movies. We aren't shifty eyed soldiers, and victimized women. We are human beings with our own stories and I feel like showing my face for who I am slays a different kind of dragon. PTSD might not be curable, but it's image is. No one on earth would stand around and let someone make you feel damaged or dangerous for being an epileptic. So if it comes up I field the occasional odd look, and some people distance from me, but it seems like the more honest and open I am the better my life is. Accepting people really do come to fill that void if you let them in. (Learning how to reach out to them is an entirely different story... ha ha.)

 

[mamachick]

I think we do get better. I also think we are the same person as before but a bit more enlightened. I am coming to know my soul/spitit/core better than before and I think the potential is there to be more accepting and real, and there is value and purpose in this.

Just last year, I felt defective and damaged. Those feelings have been transforming and I must say that talking to others on this site deserves so much credit. When I read others stories and recognize that pain and suffering is not the same as defective and damaged.

Even before I was aware of my ptsd, I was actually grateful that I had suffered the adversities in life. It is the pain that has always caused growth in me. If I came from this great easy place, I probably would not be in the same line of work, have compassion for the less fortunate, and recognize injustices that I see so clearly.

 

[obliterated]

Oh my gosh - I was in no way saying the person was not telling the truth or 'BS' about being turned away! Thank you Incongruent for responding and you are correct - what I was trying to communicate that it was wrong of any therapist to turn a patient away without recourse and that I understood given my experiences.

I was turned away without being given any option which is what I disagree with - I think it's right of a therapist to say it may be out of their range of expertise, however, telling someone in distress that there is little that can be done and then telling them to keep looking without offering other places that could help was difficult and discouraging so I gave up.

 

[mamachick]

Obilterated, I am so sorry that this happened to you with both the therapist and your friend.

If you have a client/therapist relationship-(you have had an appointment with this therapist and issues arise that they are not trained in), they have a duty to give you names of professionals that are adequatly trained in the area in which you need. Anything less is a violation of ethics.

However, if you call an office and speak to someone over the phone,(they may not take your insurance, service your county, or treat particular disorders ) a relationship has not been established. They may just make a suggestion but are not obligated to make a referral.

I do know that just because this is how it is suppose to happen, it doesn't always happen this way. I'm sorry you had such an experience.

 

[Gamereign555]

I clicked on this thread hoping there was a cure, even though I already knew there wasn't...kind of funny, kinda not.
Sometimes I still think about how I am going to be this way forever. But then I remember that everyday I do something I don't want to do and it makes me feel better.
There are times I feel great for days even weeks at a time and I cherish that but I wont forget what I have and what I must do or not do to make things better or worse.

 

[OKRADLAK]

Obliterate....that is awful! I guess it is better than when they take you on and then tell you to F off. That has happened to me. I wish they had told me up front. Noooo. Instead she said I was a challenge and that she never had a client like this and then.....that I ought to stop! Grrrrrrr.

Well,here is a hug ((((OBLITERATE)))))))) This path sucks. I am on the bad one now, too

 

[just me here]

Oh my gosh - I was in no way saying the person was not telling the truth or 'BS' about being turned away! Thank you Incongruent for responding and you are correct - what I was trying to communicate that it was wrong of any therapist to turn a patient away without recourse and that I understood given my experiences.

I was turned away without being given any option which is what I disagree with - I think it's right of a therapist to say it may be out of their range of expertise, however, telling someone in distress that there is little that can be done and then telling them to keep looking without offering other places that could help was difficult and discouraging so I gave up.

sorry about that. I guess I just read it wrong and posted without thinking I might be off base myself. I obviously was, my sincere apologies.
there is strength in being able to interact with people that understand- I need to work harder on my understanding.

 

[Lionheart]

Just surviving this is a sucess story isn't it? Has anyone ever said: Yeah, I had PTSD. Took awhile , but I got over it. Anyone? We don't get better, do we?

Sorry that I am just now seeing this thread and replying to it.

I can't "get over" the chemical and organic changes in the brain that PTSD caused and I will probably always have PTSD, but the severity of symptoms has gotten much better, so yes, we do get better! Although there may not be a cure, as of yet, I think you are right in saying that just surviving is a success story. Thing is, we can do so much more than just survive if we are willing to work hard on our healing.

If you were to know me several years ago and then see me today, you would not recognize me as the same person and in many ways I am not the person I used to be. That is a good thing, believe me.....my family used to "walk on egg shells" around me and now I rarely get bent out of shape about anything. I even use some of the symptoms like Hyper-vigilance to assist me in scanning my surroundings for signs of danger, but I do not freak out over it like I once did.

I used to walk across the street to avoid having to interact with people, but now I stop and say hello. If they don't respond, I figure that says more about them than it does about me..and that represents a big change, but the biggest change of all is that I love the man that I have become and I don't suffer in constant pain nor do I cut on myself or wish to die anymore. It can get a lot better!!!

 

[ana]

I think we all can get at least a little bit better. However bad, frustrated or suicidal I feel I would be just sitting on my couch and doing nothing if I didn't wish to change the way I feel. I think that wish is the first step and searching for answers is the next one. It may take time and lots of things that don't work until we find the ones that do. It's just that sometimes those little improvements seem too small to matter and then my frustration overcomes me, takes control and I feel like everything's lost. I have to keep reminding myself in such times that it will pass, always does. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't.

I have a feeling this is different for those who have the trauma since early childhood, and thus don't know any other "self", from those who have changed due to a trauma later in their life. Not saying that any of them is better or worse, just curious as to what I would be like if I weren't raised by abusive parents. What strikes me as odd is the possibility that I might not be any better than I am now. And one more, I think I would have been much worse during the war if I had a happy childhood and loving parents. Struggling for survival in the early age taught me some things I wouldn't have known otherwise. I do believe that "Every cloud has a silver lining.", it's just not obvious immidiately, sometimes it takes years to see it.

 

[Rob_Dog19]

I feel like I''m just getting worse the older I get...all of my symptoms have progressively gotten more intrusive. I can't imagine that there is a "better", I don't see it ever happening...just life getting harder and harder to deal with until you die.