Search results

I typically think the same thing and have actually purchased books on managing and understanding OCD. However, both of the psychologists I have worked with this year said I only have PTSD and "anxiety". I asked them specifically about OCD and the first one said "maybe a bit" and later said that...

How many of you have developed phobias along with your PTSD? Because of some of my trauma, I have a severe phobia of mental illness. I have worried almost every day of my life that I am/will become schizophrenic, bipolar, borderline etc. I have been in therapy since early childhood and have been...

WillyKat, I definitely hear you with all that. I always feel crazy because of all the stuff my hypervigilant mind picks up on. And that in turn makes me panic because I have a phobia of insanity. Lovely how things get compounded like that. What has your experience been with the hypertension...

I am really struggling to achieve a sense of calm. Every day I feel constantly scared, sad, frustrated. I have zero self worth and so regardless of how apparent it is that my partner loves me I cannot accept it. I feel constantly guilty like I am a bad person and that makes any form of social...

One thing I'd like some other perspectives on is impulse control. I can be grumpy and weird, where I say something rude and then apologize and over-explain how I'm trying to stay level and that I don't mean to be nasty etc. and it just makes the environment confused, awkward, and tense. In those...

To be clear because I can't make a full response at this time, there is never any violence in our relationship. We love each other very much. The only issue is that my hypervigilance can at times make me feel totally on edge and afraid that my partner may abandon me. We had a very good talk last...

Hi, My partner has come to live with me for three months. We are in a long distance relationship and visit every other month. Since we have an open summer, we decided to spend it together. My PTSD is pretty bad... It is about day five and not one day has passed that I didn't feel on edge...

How many of you have experienced sudden awakening late at night/early in the morning with anxiety, high mental energy/agitation and intrusive thoughts? Last night I was slowly nudged awake by cycling thoughts that were giving me a lot of anxiety. The thoughts were intrusive as I could not at...

I also have a tendency to under report my issues, for fear of being labeled in some way I can't handle. I have not had your particular experience of worrying about disability etc, but I certainly feel the bit about needing to project an image of health and competence. I feel that if my outward...

Thank you, cat. It's true, it takes tiny steps and I know it's going to be a marathon journey. Thankfully I do have more control over my episodes and they are happening less frequently. I was adopted and my adoptive mother was abusive, so I am currently trying to impress upon myself the fact...

Sometimes I will feel very emotional and feel guilty as though my feelings are shameful and when my partner can't give me the level of verbal support I feel I need, I feel rejected and like she doesn't really love me. I get really angry but then when I deconstruct the anger I realize I just...

Not excited. My adoptive mother was my abuser. Yet, because of the family dynamic, I have to call her and wish her a good day. It would be even better if I sent a card... If I do neither, I receive quite the guilt trip.

I hope you're right. I mean, you're almost definitely right. I have childhood trauma and since my teen years when the anxiety really hit, I have been constantly afraid of losing control. I feel pretty confident that I am not going to randomly die at any moment, but the onset of mental illness...

Hi all, I am wondering how many of you out there can relate to this... So I am constantly hypervigilant, and since it is always present with me, one of the things I am so hypervigilant of is my mind. I have had a deep phobia about mental illness since I was a young teenager, and so whenever my...

By body memories are you referring to the pent up feelings that don't always have a clear memory attached to it? If so, I'm definitely getting those. Thank you for your wonderful input. It means the world to me to know others understand and relate to my experience... I will consider...

Like you it also makes me feel bad for a few days afterwards. Yesterday in EMDR I worked on my phobia of insanity. Because of some things in my family history, I have a couple mental illness-related traumatic memories, and then developed a fear that I would one day lose my mind. I worked...

I do indeed hide parts of myself away from others intentionally. What's interesting is that I have recently realized it and have been noticing it for the past few days. Around people I am typically a pretty pleasant, often entertaining person. When I am not with friends I am usually just quiet...

So glad I found this thread! I am experiencing something similar. I also experienced difficulty with speech, as well as heightened anxiety and painful memories. During the EMDR session I had yesterday, I started to feel anxious, dissociated, lightheaded, hypervigilant, and it was harder for me...

Hi Jazzy, I have similar issues. Depersonalization/derealization and constant intrusive thoughts have been my life for the past decade or so. They're both common issues with PTSD. If you're taking any medications, those very well may cause those issues as well. I do not take medication, and I...

Thanks everyone for your input. I have been feeling a huge amount of anxiety today as my brain insists on looking for any memory, feeling or thought that could get me diagnosed as bipolar. It's been pretty awful how my mind is tormenting me like this. Interestingly, yesterday my EMDR session was...

Hi all, I have been doing EMDR once a week for the past month. I did it yesterday. I went into the session feeling pretty good. For a few days, I was feeling more capable and less subject to the pain of my PTSD. I thought it was the success of the first sessions having helped me out a bit...

Because seriously entertaining suicide will only bring more suffering.

Update: It has been a week and I haven't had any meltdowns. I had a partial meltdown last night, where I felt deep grief and anxiety that I wasn't good enough for my partner, but I didn't lose control of my anguish and start catastrophizing as I had been. However, I find that today I am perhaps...

@ ScaredofLonely OCD obsessions are not necessarily "worse." All that is required to be diagnosed OCD is to have some action or ritual to assuage the resultant anxiety. It could even be a pattern of thoughts, such as having a thought you deem "bad" and then saying some prayers immediately to...

Indeed, I suffer from myriad intrusive thoughts, such as the ones you describe. I, however, was diagnosed with OCD in addition to PTSD. This is not to say they aren't interrelated; trauma often does precipitate OCD and other anxiety disorders.