zaniara
MyPTSD Pro
I have gone through intensive trauma-therapy and come out "on the other side". (Life is SO much better now!)
I've heard and seen some not so helpful comments and also heard despair being misunderstood as "resistance" (=AKA "not trying hard enough"). Both by professionals (especially CBT-therapists) and sometimes online too.
So I write this if someone wants to or needs to know about this.
I used to suffer a lot from different kinds of problems. Like different kinds of anxiety. Also panic attacks. I got some help with that, by CBT-techniques and grounding techniques.
But then there was this other kind of anxiety, that could throw me into hours and hours, or worst case scenario days in a row, of being in a living hell. No meds whatsoever could stop it (only possibly being sedated- but me coming out of sedation was NOT a pretty sight!= was back at square one after waking up). And no technique could help much at all.
CBT people and doctors and other sufferers could sometimes say that it's not possible for the body to have such a high-arousal-anxiety that long, that eventually the body would lower the intensity in the adrenaline. But it was simply not true. Sure, after a while the body got tired, but very soon (minutes most of the time) it was in the same state again.
In therapy I finally learned it's actually stronger than a panic attack, and it's called annihilation anxiety. Not all people with PTSD experience it. And most of the time you suffer from it after being tortured in some ways. Me being in that state was me being trapped in trauma-memories being relieved (but most of the times without any conscious images or so, mostly body memories or as an emotional flashback).
When that happened I always felt extremely desperate and other people not understanding or giving unhelpful (though friendly) advices made me even more desperate. Also when they then said I "wasn't trying hard enough" I felt utterly helpless and hopeless and in despair (which was also some of the feelings connected to the trauma). It was the feeling of being invisible, totally alone and without any possibility to ever, ever be helped or let out of hell.
It's like being in a living hell, for sometimes day in a row. And sleep was impossible and words hard to find. Brain is not functioning and thoughts are scattered. (Was misdiagnosed as bi-polar at one point..)
If you've experienced this do know it can be a trauma being subconsciously relived(a flashback), and that if the traumas are processed you can finally be freed from this crap and never feel like that again!
And if you don't know what I'm describing please be gentle when giving advice to someone who might struggle with this, and don't start saying the person is unwilling to try "hard enough". And if you do, don't take it personally if the person gets aggressive in his/her desperation.
I'm grateful not all people have experienced annihilation-anxiety and that I'm free of it now.
I've heard and seen some not so helpful comments and also heard despair being misunderstood as "resistance" (=AKA "not trying hard enough"). Both by professionals (especially CBT-therapists) and sometimes online too.
So I write this if someone wants to or needs to know about this.
I used to suffer a lot from different kinds of problems. Like different kinds of anxiety. Also panic attacks. I got some help with that, by CBT-techniques and grounding techniques.
But then there was this other kind of anxiety, that could throw me into hours and hours, or worst case scenario days in a row, of being in a living hell. No meds whatsoever could stop it (only possibly being sedated- but me coming out of sedation was NOT a pretty sight!= was back at square one after waking up). And no technique could help much at all.
CBT people and doctors and other sufferers could sometimes say that it's not possible for the body to have such a high-arousal-anxiety that long, that eventually the body would lower the intensity in the adrenaline. But it was simply not true. Sure, after a while the body got tired, but very soon (minutes most of the time) it was in the same state again.
In therapy I finally learned it's actually stronger than a panic attack, and it's called annihilation anxiety. Not all people with PTSD experience it. And most of the time you suffer from it after being tortured in some ways. Me being in that state was me being trapped in trauma-memories being relieved (but most of the times without any conscious images or so, mostly body memories or as an emotional flashback).
When that happened I always felt extremely desperate and other people not understanding or giving unhelpful (though friendly) advices made me even more desperate. Also when they then said I "wasn't trying hard enough" I felt utterly helpless and hopeless and in despair (which was also some of the feelings connected to the trauma). It was the feeling of being invisible, totally alone and without any possibility to ever, ever be helped or let out of hell.
It's like being in a living hell, for sometimes day in a row. And sleep was impossible and words hard to find. Brain is not functioning and thoughts are scattered. (Was misdiagnosed as bi-polar at one point..)
If you've experienced this do know it can be a trauma being subconsciously relived(a flashback), and that if the traumas are processed you can finally be freed from this crap and never feel like that again!
And if you don't know what I'm describing please be gentle when giving advice to someone who might struggle with this, and don't start saying the person is unwilling to try "hard enough". And if you do, don't take it personally if the person gets aggressive in his/her desperation.
I'm grateful not all people have experienced annihilation-anxiety and that I'm free of it now.