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Does Requiring Certain Prescribed Medicines Cause You Deep Shame?

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Hope, I am on quite a few meds myself. I couldn't function at all without them. I am a horrible mess without my meds which is I think part of the reason I relapsed after almost 15yrs of sobriety.

I feel like for the first time in my life there is hope for me and it is because I take meds that I feel this way.

My sobriety is my business and unless I am asked directly or am sharing my story, nobody needs to know that I take meds. My sponsor knows and she doesn't judge me and that is good enough for me. The only reason I would even mention it in my story is to help other alcoholics who might also suffer from problems other than alcohol and/or drug addiction. They need to know that there is hope and that they are not the only ones out there.

I know it's hard when you're being judged but other peoples ignorant opinions just don't matter when it comes to my serenity and peace of mind. I am much more likely to be able to stay sober this time because I am in therapy and on the right medication. My gratitude for these things is overwhelming. I get a second chance! I am older and more informed and I have been on the streets. I totally get it now and that gives me hope beyond my wildest dreams.

You are doing great. You're staying sober, you're in the solution and you're working on your PTSD. No one can take that away from you. You're in your higher powers hands now and that is completely yours.

Keep trudging that road. You will be okay. I really believe that.

Take care, Morgan:Hug_emoticon:
 
Kind of. I felt very weird when I had to buy Xanax. I think I was ashamed. I mean I´m young, physically healthy and so on. I feel like I have no right to have the problems that I have, like I´m insulting someone by having them.

So yeah, I did feel bad and kind of quilty standing in front of that pharmacist. Plus then I did have big problems with expressing myself. I talken nonsense. I had clear thought but out came a complete mess.
 
I know it's hard when you're being judged but other peoples ignorant opinions just don't matter when it comes to my serenity and peace of mind.

Such types of events, as you mention above, is where I actually experience physiological effects and Warnings .....Danger! Danger!

This is one specific place where the root of my trigger and resulting Ptsd symptoms is found in my past trauma.

Other's ignorant or delusionary opinions of me did matter as a kid and teen when I was being judged! Because judgement wasn't so simple. Judgement of me was followed by full speed ahead attempts at an execution. His chooses in operation were continuous and varied. Many were extremely psychological, followed up by assault.

Others beliefs held about me did matter as a kid, and when not in alignment with most obvious truth and reality, could and generally always did cost me daily.

When the entire family became victims of my step-dad's world of psychosis and delusion, they did not immediately pay at the hands of his instant gratifications. I did! This mattered.

What was proven later to be two of his earliest most prevalent psychotic beliefs, while existing within our household, were:

a) He thought I personally was someone else, and then would often call me by her name just prior to his attacks. b) He thought I was his enemy and that I was out to destroy and kill him.

Mind you, this began no later than when I was 8 yrs. old, and continued from there. It did not ever stop and only subsided for brief durations of time, until much later, after he had aged enough, and I was then grown enough that he then knew, he may've helped create a possible killer ....(me, then a real enemy, and quite possibly a killer in defense if that need arose). He understood that any further overt torment and torture of me, was then likely to have cost him his life.

Was he ever really truly psychotic or was he just plain full of hatred and evil, or a combination of both, really I don't know. But what I do know is that what he thought about me mattered and determined whether or not I might live another day, or awake to die.

One reason perhaps that I was so obsessively targeted by him and perceived by him as his enemy, prior to actually becoming his enemy, was bc he must've been so frustrated, as well as, he couldn't and didn't succeed in breaking me. I'd refuse to accept his cunning daily manipulations, filth, deceit, destruction and abuses, and excuse them away as rational, acceptable and deserving. Instead, I'd maintain my voice and take whatever abuse and threat might, and did all too often, follow.

It was not within me to passively stand by and pretend while I watched him ravage our home and divide and conquer us girls.

The others did differently. My mother went the route of cooperation. My eldest sister could escape in friends and drugs, while simultaneously accepting his rewards for her "going along to get along."; She believed my mother who believed him.

My other sister simply was set-up to self-destruct and escape and dissociate from all of reality. So when she was in desperate need again, she had little to no choose but to then abandon all of her realities for his and abandon hers, for that of what was available, in addition to, devastatingly brainwashed into my mother; She too basically took the route of going along with this guy and our mom to get along, and IMO, for too long.

I on the other hand stood apart from, and was non-accepting of such depravity and insidious abusiveness from within that hell-hole. I thought and behaved much differently and independent of them then.

Since I could not escape, I was certain to die alone at such a young age without any help or protection, and so the two remaining chooses were: allow myself to be assimilated with him and the increasing numbers, (known mentally deranged extended family) or fight.

I then chose to fight that battle against his psychosis which included targeting me as his enemy. If I hadn't fought, I would've permanently lost every ounce of my true self and would've felt as good as dead.

It's great morgan that when it comes to peace of mind and serenity that others opinions of you don't matter; This is truly all good! We can be thankful for such gifts, power and/or miracles, I too have received just enough of all, to often not only feel most appreciative and grateful for the lives of many people, but for my own life as well. Sometimes I even feel very, very good about myself.

However, thus far and in real-time, when it comes to what and how the numbers think and feel about me, it still matters to me, bc it can and does physically feel and convince me still too often, that both my next moment of sanity, as well as, my very life is at stake.

And, since I'm so often surrounded by the direct familiarities and quite remarkable similarities with those people in that house (FOO) from my past. This and these challenges far exceeds hard.

While I can thank you morgan for posting to this thread, for your very kind support and for perhaps inadvertently helping me to dredge up and get so much related out, I don't know how others might think about all this release. Perhaps, most others will think it's all bullsh't. (smiles)

I can smile a bit more freely here upon the forum when still at some risk or even while feeling happy or loving, bc nobody is in my face shouting: "I'll chase you down, catch you and then screw you right into the ground." Nor, is anyone setting forth to gain allies to place an attack upon anyone or any group of people.

Here, I feel like I'm allowed to continue to discover and re-discover more and that in doing so what I find good about me, doesn't threaten others and myself, or allow others, if and when they do feel miserable, to directly express their ugliness or hatefuness at me.

Lots of (((hugs))) morgan.

And, thank you Salu for your response and support as well.


Hope
 
Hope
I will always be there for you ... you always listen to me

your friend Beatle Bailey .

PS. never any judgement from me we have known each other too long for that !
 
no shame

I feel no shame at all about taking anything that might help, but I have to admit that it took me years to reach that kind of self acceptance. Incidentally, I knew a person very well who was ashamed about needing insulin. We live in a very shame-based culture. It's almost infantile. Nothing is ever supposed to be wrong with anyone.
 
"We live in a very shame-based culture. It's almost infantile."

I do Thank you beatle, very much!


And, ronnis, I cannot get over what you've done here for me. Very simply you put motivating and powerful words to a far too long-lived experience of mine.

"We live in a very shame-based culture. It's almost infantile." ronnis

I Love these words !!!!!! .............:smile:............:thumbs-up............:wink:............!

bc now I have words for my experience and validation of a certain many things. Already, I've begun to take these words further for better understanding, and what I read thus far turns my stomach. Because, too much truths and reality at once, has a tendency to do this to me, but I see no other alternative. I'm going to be continuing to research this topic, but it's not going to happen without distress. But I'll welcome such distress over another day of what I've been subjecting myself too and now re-experiencing from continuous triggers, ....and over what I'd once rather traumatically experienced in my past.

Your words here ronnis has opened up a new world of understanding for me, and perhaps a new life. I'll see! First of course I need to find a way in which I can forgive certain peoples and (blah, blah, blah) and move through a good many instilled additional fears, hurt, shame and what has always been painfully witnessed, felt and received as attacks upon many and myself.

I'm a bit vague here tonight, but you deserve some reputation for your pearl of wisdom, and one in which I'm not dismissing, ......rather taking it further into some daylight again.

ronnis,..............I Thank you! Thank you! & Thank you!


Hope
 
Wow! This is pretty interesting. I need to read these, and think a little more before responding. But in short, I think, I used to feel that way whilst on medicines, but not now. But perhaps this is because I am not on them... I'm not sure. Got to think it through a little more. I think that others felt that I was weak and should be ashamed, and that in itself hurt, because I was serious about getting well, and they were seriously dragging me down. Furthermore being on the medicine made it easier for some people to assault me, and there was a lot of stigma because of it - like people saying I was weak, stupid, easy, changed, wrong, psycho, nuts, insain, crazy, for being in the state of mind where I need those drugs, or in the pain where I need those drugs...

Now, I don't take them, simply because they cause too many side effects, are difficult to remember to take while I'm being impaired by them, or they don't work. Painkillers certainly don't work... Even when I'm in excruciating pain, not even taking the edge off. Sometimes I take painkillers for the placebo affect, hopeing it will work if I 'will' it to work, but it doesn't. I am lucky I havn't been in that kind of pain much over the past year. This has been my best year for pain, being that there hasn't been much to deal with (much by my own standards might be a lot for some - it's subjective).

I hope this helps, and hopefully I'll respond more fully later if I can think of anything helpful and answer your questions more specifically.
 
Nope. I lurve my medicine. It's the only time I can remember that I've been able to sleep all night (going on three months now). I don't care what med it is (ie "psych meds"), just that it works.
 
Ok here goes, I am not ashamed of being in need of medical care (including medicines), but I am certainly ashamed of the people who put me in this position. I am ashamed of those who think I should be ashamed for needing treatment for a problem someone-else caused me. I am ashamed of those who took advantage of me while I was incapacitated by the medication. I am not ashamed that I will probably be trying a new medicine. I am not ashamed (in advance) of how it may affect my behaviour (such as if I have a bad reaction to it and go all foggy-headed again). I will have patience for the idiots who think it's my fault, empathy for those who don't understand (becuase I used to not understand), and no tollerance for the Disorder or it's symptoms. I am going to be completely myself again - 100%... wether the medicine works or not, wether the medicine causes me harm or not... I'll figure out what to do eventually. Since I can't remember a time when I didn't have PTSD symptoms, I think I may have to invent myself a little. People go through crises and re-invent themselves. I just need to develop at all, really. I need to become someone. I have a sense of who I would be without PTSD, but I don't remember ever just being her (i.e. me). I think the development will help to get rid of the PTSD. Probably nobody on Earth believes that can happen, besides myself. But I know I missed a lot growing up. I havn't just survived. I've done really well. There is more to be, yet.

So, yeh, I'm not ashamed of myself or possible need for medicine.

I'm ashamed of rapists, murderers, child-mollesters, child pornographers, pedophiles, people who say, "go, be safe and keep warm" but do nothing to help that happen, beurocrats that take advantage of individuals, govournments that fail their soldiers, people who torture people, people who torture/maim/kill animals/children/any living thing. I'm ashamed of Australia's current "Mental Health" system - but glad we have one as it has helped some people - it is just quite inadequate. I'm ashamed of people who bully people for being on meds. I'm ashamed of people who take advantage of people on meds while they are incapacitated or for any reason they do it. I'm ashamed of people who get drunk so they can rape someone and use it as a deffense! I'm ashamed of people who break into peoples houses just to hurt other people or their kids or pets. I'm ashamed that GPs don't know much at all about mental illnesses. Frankly, too many people suffer mental illnesses for GPs to be so in the dark about it! I'm ashamed of people who don't try to understand, but state that they do, and still do nothing to learn more... I hate lies! I am ashamed of people saying they want to help me, but lie that they understand or want to understand.

Why should any of us be ashamed of ourselves??? Who we are for needing something - it is rediculous!!!
 
I've just started down the road of medications in the last few weeks. I feel deep shame about needing an anti-depressant. I've spent so many years toughing it out that I feel like I've somehow failed and surrendered when I just couldn't fight my way out of depression again. I know this is irrational, but there it is. I also am embarrassed that I have damaged my lungs enough that I need an inhaler four times a day to be able to breath well. And still I can't quit smoking. And for that I feel like a weak willed, self-destructive idiot. Two months ago I watched my mother die from lung disease caused by smoking. It's an awful death, and I still can't quit.

I'm embarrassed and ashamed about a lot of things. After almost forty years of toughing it out, I suddenly feel like I've completely fallen to pieces. And though I'm finally admitting that I have PTSD, I hate it that I wasn't tough enough to get through my life without being traumatized by it. I guess this last is a little off the subject. What I'm hoping is that when the anti-depressants do kick in that I won't feel so high that I won't want to do the work to recover from the PTSD shit.

Thanks everybody. This is a good subject.

Pat
 
Pat, you havn't fallen to pieces. Something(s) has/have been shattering you, and you've been holding it all together like glue for 40 years, that's what's really going on. Now you got to help the glue set. Does that idea sit with you?

If you can get your stress down to a manageable level, that will make quitting smoking a lot easier (if this is one of your goals). Small steps, one at a time, first things first.

As for hating PTSD - we all do. As for not being tough enough to get through your life without obtaining it, that's bull, because it's far more complicated than that, and it doesn't depend upon wether or not you are a 'weak' person at all. The fact that you are moving on with your life, and making positive steps, means you are STRONG.

There are resources on the forum which explain the mechanics of what causes PTSD, and these may help you to understand that it isn't a weakness at all. Living with it is hard. If you weren't strong, you wouldn't be doing so well that you can write a message on a forum. It isn't like you decided to have PTSD, because it's easier than not having it. None of us had a choice. The people who don't go on to develop it didn't have a choice either.

What you decide from here on, determines wether you are a strong or weak-willed person. Frankly, the concept that you are 'weak' for developing PTSD is just bull. There is no evidence here to suggest that you are weak in any case.

S.
 
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