Is Ptsd Curable?

[Madhather]

I overheard someone say, now that I have overcome my PTSD I will be....you can fill in the blank.

My question, is PTSD curable?

After you do all the hard work does life return to "normal", do you just rejoin the human race and continue on like nothing happened? Does PTSD just become a distant memory, like a once broken bone, or are you destined to deal with the effects, to some degree, for the rest of your life?

 

[The Albatross]

I have come to conclude that I will likely have some effects but that I can become a master at management and minimize those times another trauma not withstanding.

I have no concept of "before PTSD" so I had no expectation of really returning to anything.

 

[EvenStrongerNow]

This is a good thread to read. When I was asking this question, I found this thread very useful: https://www.myptsd.com/threads/cure-for-ptsd-does-it-exist.3997/

 

[Madhather]

I have no concept of "before PTSD"

Nor do I, but the overheard comment caught me off guard and I was wondering if others believed that PTSD could be dealt with and forgotten. Thank you for your reply, I agree that management and minimizing is the healthy way to go.

@StrongerNow thank you for the link I will give it a read. :)

 

[EvenStrongerNow]

For me personally, I've been realizing that thinking that there is a cure (not true) only impedes my progress because it magnifies the self blaming thoughts that I already have......and when another flashback rolls around, I get thrown off so far, far, far...

Thinking that there isn't (true) allows me to be more accepting of it and motivates me to remain accountable to do the work (putting plans into action and learning coping skills) if I want to have a chance at getting better...

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Cured? No. Forgotten? No. Healed? Yes. (Or perhaps "healing" is a better term as I plan on improving until the day I die at age 97 lol) Return to normal? No----let me rephrase... Return to the same normal as before? No. Find a new normal? Yes.

I had no pre-trauma life as my trauma was at such a young age. As bad as my life may look from the outside (disability, unable to work), I honestly feel that I am in a better place now versus pre-diagnosis because I now know that improvement is possible. I'm learning how to manage my emotions. I'm learning how to take care of myself. I'm rediscovering my interests & passions in life. I know that this is a lifelong struggle for me, but the valleys become less deep and the mountains not so insurmountable.

I think if someone has the notion that PTSD is just forgotten at some point, then they're either setting themselves up for heartache due to an unattainable goal or setting themselves up for future problems. Well, as in if we forget the PTSD, we also forget the coping skills, we forget that our stress thresholds are permanently lowered, and we forget that as a person with PTSD we need a higher level of self care. Forget these things and you're setting yourself up for future problems when the stress cup overflows once again.

 

[Madhather]

putting plans into action and learning coping skills

I think that is a wise way to view it and definitely a good step towards healing.

if we forget the PTSD, we also forget the coping skills, we forget that our stress thresholds are permanently lowered, and we forget that as a person with PTSD we need a higher level of self care. Forget these things and you're setting yourself up for future problems when the stress cup overflows once again.

Very good point Solara, thank you for your insight.

 

[Dee Morris]

I don't think so... only managed. Unless you have a time machine and can take me back in time to before the trauma to stop it. I personally have no concept of life before trauma because my trauma is complex. I don't know what things like safety, trust and acceptance feel like because those concepts were shattered and re-shattered since before my earliest memories. The reactions that I have are normal to me. Finding improvement in managing those reactions doesn't fix anything. All that hard work is a life long project. Not something you do for a little while till you feel "normal".

 

[Kas_Can_Fly]

Scientifically, your genes are changed, so if even if you fix it all the ways you can control, on some microscopic level you are different forever. But the tools you learn to heal, you will always have - so if the past resurfaces or something new happens, you can heal that too. I think that those without prior trauma won't have that knowledge of how to heal, or the strength that comes from healing, so once you heal your trauma now, you will be stronger than the average person on the street.

I can't really work out how to say it, because the damage will still be there, but you'll be better for it - like a vase - every vase is fragile, some vases get a chip from a knock and you can glue that back on but it's only surface deep and that's good if it's only a chip - it's probably barely visible... If a vase falls to the floor and breaks into hundreds of little pieces but is glued back together, I think all that glue makes it stronger than before, stronger than other vases with chips and scratches - they're still damaged, but the glue added something and it runs through every little piece, reinforcing it and cushioning it for any future knocks. Plus it takes a lot of care, methodical handiwork and time that put it back together - you see that and it's hard not to fall in love with it - it has such a story!

 

[Madhather]

Plus it takes a lot of care, methodical handiwork and time that put it back together - you see that and it's hard not to fall in love with it - it has such a story!

I love this, I like the idea that from something so traumatic something beautiful and lasting can be built.

@Dee Morris I understand. I think that for those of us with childhood trauma learning to manage is definitely a step towards healing and a better way of life. I know for myself, that I have only recently realized that my self taught coping skills, such as dissociation and denial, are beginning to fail me and holding it all together is a crapshoot at best. So learning healthy ways to manage is top on my list.

 

[blue-Ocean]

Not really we never get over a traumatic experience it stays embedded in our memory forever,having said that we do live a life but a different one to what we would had we not experienced trauma,for many we cannot recall a time before it our life starts from trauma on wards we don't get over it but learn to cope and live with it in our own way,it is always going to be part of our life no matter how we look at it,i have lived with PTSD for the past 22 years now and i get by day to day but i will never really forget my traumatic experience that caused it,so until a trauma is wiped out of our mind then PTSD is not gong to be cured,we need to focus the cause to have any hope of making PTSD go away.

 

[Britt.f7]

I think that we can move on. I am hoping for it. Yes, the trauma will always be there. A part of the past. Where it belongs. I really believe this. That we will be able to control how we feel. Like people who experience trauma and do not experience ptsd. That is what I need to believe. Why can't we?

Of course, I've suffered from depression on and off throughout my life. Still am. It may go away for a time but it comes back. Maybe this is how it happens for PTSD. I can deal with that too. Especially when it gets to the "hardly" stage.

We learn new tools. I hope that isn't for nothing. I do believe we can look back and say, yes this happened to me, but...