Search results

At the core of an evidence base is the method used to measure the evidence. Measuring quantity is suited to larger scale studies and is less time consuming. Success is often measured with tick boxes and scales. It also uses statistical/numerical language that appeals to people involved in...

I'm a light sleeper and easily wake in the night but I've noticed that with any amount of stress, my sleep is the first thing that's affected. I get up ( or at least sit up) and do something like play games on my phone or read a book) this stops my mind getting stuck on a loop thinking about...

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD. This article explains the different approaches taken on this subject in DSM5 and ICD 11. In brief, the criteria for PTSD in DSM 5 incorporates a wider set of symptoms. Whereas in ICD 11, to the symptom set for PTSD is narrower but there is...

@No More I think I've experienced both sides. When I was alone and struggling to cope with PTSD symptoms, it was a relief to be told what was happening and that I could get treatment for it. But I also slip into denial of having PTSD or being effected by trauma and feel ashamed of both the...

I should say this to myself more often☺️ This is a good point. I look back at myself in my twenties and would probably have met different criteria than I did in my thirties. Yes I relate to this. The difficulty I have currently is that it's dissociation that causing me most concern and I find...

@arfie thank you for sharing your story. It's sad, but my experience in UK resonates too well with 1972 US. I was diagnosed with PTSD over 10 years ago and offered standard CBT - when she couldn't treat me the choice was a further 2 year wait for further assessment or to refer to a charity that...

Hi Arfie, I think this is part of my dilemma. I am looking for understanding of what might be going on for me because I'm feeling confused and this causes more distress. I think in other countries diagnosis is standard for insurance purposes and it seems multiple diagnoses are commonplace...

@Roland thank you. I think better understanding of what I'm dealing with is a big thing for me as well as validation - I grew up with a lot of invalidation also and I have a part that takes me into denial and believes I'm just being stupid/attention seeking/ making a fuss over nothing. So...

After I was diagnosed with PTSD, I started therapy and after a few sessions, the therapist tried to explain dissociative parts and splitting and that's why she didn't feel she was the right therapist for me. I didn't really understand what she was talking about at the time. But more recently...

Yes, this is something I experience

Its likely that many of those people wouldn't even experience a mental health crisis if they had been able to receive a) appropriate therapy for diagnosis, b) in a shorter timeframe and c) for the amount of sessions necessary

You're definitely on the right forum for talking more to people that may experience similar symptoms. I personally don't share very much anywhere, not even on the forums, because the fear of sharing more openly and making myself more vulnerable is very much part of the adult traumas I've...

It does get better and it sounds like you're doing all the right things. I echo what survivor3 says. And it's okay (and necessary) to take time out from caring for others to look after your own needs.

This is a good point and a reminder for me to be more compassionate. When I'm beating myself up for going into denial, my therapist tries to remind me that this part helped me when I needed it.

I think your GP is wrong to suggest that you should forget or that you are resistant to therapy. As a teenager I refused to go to therapy because I was consistently told that everything about me (particularly my fears and emotions) was wrong, and I viewed the suggestion of therapy as part of...

I'm hoping your to therapist has given you enough notice to help you work through this with them. They might also be able to pass on information to a new therapist for you so that you're not completely starting over.

This is a really reflective thread. I think I could offer myself as an example of what you say in the quote here. My normal part becomes detached from emotional memories of trauma. But it's developed out of a whole heap of cognitive distortions, fear of rejection based on shame and self blame...

I think most symptoms have a time that they help us get through trauma. But then there's a time when the symptom itself is hurting or is so damaging to an area of life that you want to heal that symptom.

Im surprised your teacher couldn't accommodate that. It sounds like a good idea to be able to prepare and maybe worth pursuing. When we're triggered, we're usually responding as if the danger is right there in that moment, so to bring the response down is anything that brings awareness to...

I do keep it secret and I find that a burden because I think I must seem weird to others because I'm long term single and have few friends. That in itself is stigmatising. But if I told people, I think there is is some risk of misunderstanding how PTSD can present differently in different...

This is what my therapist says about it. Like most traumatic responses, there was a time when they helped us cope. I think it is a part that I want to rid myself of now because it's getting in the way of me healing.

I think it's helpful just sharing and hearing other people's experiences, so thank you.

I feel like I'm on an endless cycle of disconnecting from traumatic experiences to the point where, although I know they happened to me, they have no sense of reality or personal connection. Then something will happen and I go through a feeling of shock like realising for the first time that I...

Yes, this is a big one for me because I long to be loved and for someone to care, but also hate the feeling of neediness and from there it gets all messed up. It's not that I want to experience the childhood I had again, but that the child part of me still desperately wants the needs that...

Id tell myself to trust the process...specially when the going is tough. I was told by my first therapist that they couldn't treat me because of splitting/dissociative symptoms. At the time I felt rejected and that I was too damaged (even though the therapist didn't actually use those words)...