Is It Possible To Heal (completely) From Ptsd??

[Me Myself and I]

Is it actually possible to heal (completely) from ptsd?

Or is it more a matter of learning to control it and live with it?

 

[J_trustno1]

I am personally struggling but there are some success stories in the forum which may provide some hope and foundation to how those people healed.

 

[The Albatross]

Yes it is. It was something I had to do for me rather than for the person or it was going to kill me basically.

 

[PureDogs]

@Me Myself and I

Yes I believe that we can be healed from PTSD.

Relapses - Yes and it happened to me as well.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Healed completely, for me, no. (Yes, I get a lot of crap from people for saying this but hey, nobody walks in my shoes so they don't know me.)

I'll always get stressed easily. I'll always require a lot more self care. Yes, it does put restrictions on my life. I can't do things that a lot of other people can do, and I'm learning to accept that.

I know we look down upon comparisons, but if one is going to argue that PTSD can be healed, then there must be validity in the argument that some of us have a bit more on our PTSD plates than others. (Yes, I said it, some have it worse!)

It gets old dealing with the "negative Nellie" inferences when I have realistically assessed my situation and know that certain symptoms will have to be managed for life.

Diagnostically speaking, yeah, I may be PTSD "free" at some point given that you only need the absence of ONE criteria in order to fail to meet the requirements of diagnosis. But, some symptoms will be with me for awhile.

 

[alliecat]

I'm new at this but I've been suffering with ptsd for 9 years after my friend was murderer. I just relapsed last month and I feel like I have no hope. My ptsd is worse now then ever.

 

[scout86]

I'm sure there are going to be differences of opinion on this, but this is the way I picture it.

This kind of thing is an injury, like a bad burn. Like a bad burn, they are not all the same. (I agree with you Solara. I have no idea what the difference is, but it seems pretty obvious from reading the stories here that different people deal with varying degrees of "issues". At what ever level you experience it, it's still a legitimate problem.) Besides the injuries varying from person to person, your ability to heal varies. So does the attention that's been paid to the wound.

Myself, I think there's the potential for healing. I don't think you can know, standing at the start of the process, where you'll end up. Like some burn patients, there are people who will heal and go on to live lives pretty much unaffected. There are people who will have scars that are ugly, but don't alter function. There will be people who are so badly hurt that their lives are deeply compromised. There will be people who will die.

On the other hand, I don't think anyone emerges unscathed. We are changed by everything we experience in life, PTSD is no different. For the people who have a concept of "before PTSD", I don't expect you'll ever end up exactly there again. You're going to be changed by your experiences. Doesn't mean it has to be bad.

 

[atthree]

I figured that I was to young (3 yrs old) to fully understand what happened, so my PTSD was never addressed.

I could see if thought out early, you could hurdle the memory problems/blocks I have.

The what if I....? Wipes my out

 

[franciemarnie]

Anything is possible.

There have been things that I said could never ever possibly happen re: PTSD, and also re: non-PTSD things and they happened.

You just never know in life. It's a mystery.

 

[Hashi]

Yes.

The brain does change with trauma, but it can keep changing after that in order to heal. We have a natural healing ability, like we have a natural healing ability to recover from a cut on the hand or a broken bone. In the same way as recovering from a cut or broken bone, we have to take some action to provide the right conditions and support that healing, and we also have to allow the healing to happen. Trauma/PTSD healing is much bigger, of course, but the healing principle is the same.

I personally think that it would be hard to completely heal with talk therapy/exposure therapy alone. I've found it essential to have somatic therapy and to work with non-verbal techniques. In my case, that has been craniosacral therapy, visualisation for safety and art therapy. Talk therapy in the right way at the right time has been important too.

I started out very symptomatic (especially startle response, terror, anger, flashbacks, nightmares and hallucinations). I no longer have those symptoms. I'm now having to look more at my childhood trauma, but as I start doing that I realise that it's no longer trauma energy I have to deal with, but the meaning of what happened. What I have to work on now is the longer term effects of living the way I have been with amnesia, dissociation and then memories/PTSD. The trauma fear and hopelessness are gone. I'm no longer afraid of the world outside or inside my head.

I don't think I'm different from anyone else. I think it's an incredibly hard journey and it takes as long as it takes. As long as we go in the right direction, though, I believe everything can be healed.

 

[Barconian]

It is more about control and live with it and there in itself is the answer to fear. To beat fear is to face fear, to face fear is to except your own weaknesses.

 

[cherryblossom]

I don't believe it's possible to be completely healed from PTSD.

While there can be massive steps forwards, it never goes away completely so I think it is definitely a case of learning to 'manage it'.

Yes I believe that we can be healed from PTSD. Relapses - Yes and it happened to me as well.

Sorry, but that makes no sense to me - it you have relapses, you are not cured/healed. You are 'managing' your PTSD for the majority of the time. If you were healed, you wouldn't relapse. Just my honest opinion.