Getting Over Avoidance

[Maxi]

Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to open this and read.

By far the most debilitating symptom of my ptsd is avoidance. I was partly traumatised in the workplace and as a result I find it impossible to do anything which resembles work, even if it's volunteering for a cause I love. With work being a major part of life, ptsd has pretty much ruined my life. When I've tried to force myself to go to work in the past I've had pretty much full scale psychological breakdowns where I just get terrified and stop sleeping, eating, looking after myself and even though I'm not suicidal all I can think about it death to relieve me from the fear. It's like torturing myself repeatedly. How do I get over this???

I'm in therapy at the moment, but I don't seem to be making much progress. I've been in and out and tried various different therapies for years and nothing has worked. CBT came the closest to having an impact, but when in the moment my brain just ignores rational thought and runs. My body gets so overwhelmed and I can't seem to withstand the anxiety and panic. The chances of the event which traumatised me happening again are very slim, but my brain just doesn't seem to understand that!

What has worked for you with avoidance? Open and receptive to any advice. Thanks for reading.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Have you done exposure therapy? I think that you've done "exposure" in the extreme sense of going back to work but I think that it would be best if you were gradually & systematically exposed to your trigger/stressor rather than being thrown in the deep end of the pool.

 

[Seasounds]

Sorry for you suffering. It is so frustrating to deal with flashbacks when all you want to do is get a task completed. Yes, I've dealt with the same problem.

What has helped me the most is a form of the Alexander Technique, that stops the physical tightening, which decreases the anxiety, while opening up the ability to move clearly, and ease-fully, which solves the problem.

I guess it is a form of exposure therapy, but i have aomeone with me, to help me find a new way of responding. With the Alexander Technique teacher helping me, I have another person's calming "with-ness", while I also get help to, (instead of tightening and getting anxious), find ease and do my activity without retraumatizing myself.

 

[Maxi]

What has helped me the most is a form of the Alexander Technique, that stops the physical tightening, which decreases the anxiety, while opening up the ability to move clearly, and ease-fully, which solves the problem.

I've heard of this before, but never tried it. Do they have self-help packages anywhere? I'm really desperate to fix this.

 

[Maxi]

I think that you've done "exposure" in the extreme sense of going back to work but I think that it would be best if you were gradually & systematically exposed to your trigger/stressor rather than being thrown in the deep end of the pool.

The problem is I can't think of a way to grade my exposure to 'working' as it's quite all, or nothing. Can you think of any exposure steps I could take?

 

[joeylittle]

Can you think of any exposure steps I could take?

The best thing you could do for yourself would be to change therapists and start working with one who will take you through the steps for Exposure Therapy. If what you are doing in therapy to address your trauma isn't actually shifting your anxiety at all, then you deserve to have a new therapist.

I find DBT is great for learning how to ride the waves of those intense emotions that will come up - it's a part of DBT called Emotional Regulation. This is a pretty good book/workbook: (edit to replace bad link: http://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-d...ok-matthew-mckay/1008150072?ean=9781572245136)

 

[Maxi]

The best thing you could do for yourself would be to change therapists and start working with one who will take you through the steps for Exposure Therapy. If what you are doing in therapy to address your trauma isn't actually shifting your anxiety at all, then you deserve to have a new therapist.

My current therapist doesn't specialise in trauma therapy, though she is treating me for ptsd. I've only been with her a few months, so I want to give things some time to work, though we seem to just talk rather than work on exposure. I'm not how talking will hep me overcome this; but there must be some method to her madness and to be honest I've opened up with her more than any other therapist so I'd hate to throw it all away. I've heard of DBT, but never pursued it. The link you posted doesn't work, but I'll try and look up some resources online and see if I can do some in my spare time and talk about it in therapy. I definitely need help regulating m emotions. Thank you for your response.

 

[joeylittle]

Hi, @Maxi - I've fixed that link (I believe). PM me if it's still broken.

It's good you feel you can talk to your therapist. I guess my bias is that at some point you will need to actually process your trauma, and that's not just talk-therapy, it needs to be trauma specific.

But I appreciate how hard it can be to open up to a therapist.

 

[Maxi]

Thanks Joey, i'll check it out :)

My therapist did suggest talking around my trauma because well, I'm not very good at talking about it, so hopefully that will help me a little. I think diving in might terrify me.