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Great thread, @Friday! Control and usefulness are huge for me as well as it seems a lot of folks here. I manage that by counseling and presenting on a complicated topic that most people prefer to avoid. I have to be careful about overscheduling so I don’t crash and burn. But, I am definitely...

@NaeNae75 Maybe this is why the #metoo movement was so huge. Because, it wasn’t people standing up and pointing to others and saying, “end the stigma.” It was women standing up and saying, “I’ve been there, too.” But, many of us, like @EveHarrington mentioned, are too busy fighting our own...

I’m on a teeny tiny dose of Seroquel, the one night I forgot to take it was hell, and my leg has been numb for awhile now. @Simply Simon, your post has helped me to understand that at least some of what I’m dealing with is a side effect. I couldn’t do a higher dose, I couldn’t sleep, but at 25...

@NicknameB, Welcome. I’m so sorry for your losses. I know several women who have gone through major depression after their children leave. That alone can be tough. The trauma and loss that you experienced with your husband topped off with your health issues is a lot. I hope that you are able to...

Welcome @Lilbean123, It’s really hard for people w/o PTSD to understand PTSD. What you’re going through could definitely be due to your meds, especially if they are fairly new. But, I will also say that the more stressed I am, the worse my symptoms get. I can see how coming home from college...

Hello Unknown, It sounds like you’ve been through a lot. I was a police officer for 20 years and I want you to know that in all of the raids that I have been involved in, it is the children that I always felt the worst about. Unfortunately, it was the children that didn’t have a choice to be...

Hello Yellow Rose, I am so sorry you are going through this difficult time. I just want to share with you a couple things that have helped me get through some tough times. One is the idea that you are not your thoughts. So even when ideas and thoughts and feelings come to you, you have the power...

Let her know that you are willing to listen. Even though you might not understand you will not judge her or think anything less of her. Talking to normal people about weird PTSD stuff can be tough, some people are scared, most just don’t understand. Being able to just talk to someone normally...

Lulu- please be careful with the NyQuil! The DXM is addictive, and in higher doses has a lot of qualities similar to PCP. Sleep is a big deal, but even with OTC meds, you do have to be careful. Check with your doc, or consider something that’s just for sleep like Unisom or Zquil. Take care of...

I think it makes sense that this planning is a safety/control thing for you. You haven’t talked about your trauma, but if it’s severe enough for you to be here and have PTSD, it was likely a situation in which you were concerned about losing your life. There is a theory that says some of the...

My understanding of PTSD is that it starts because the brain is focused on survival and sort of filtering stuff out. In training, we’re told that in a life or death situation we should expect auditory exclusion and tunnel vision. In those survival moments, your brain is still taking in...

Thoughts and prayers for you and your family today.

I’m sorry you are going through this. Has this happened before? Your therapist may be able to help with dream re-scripting. Less formally, when I wake up after having horrible dreams, I try to think about how I would handle the situation to better control the situation. It does take me awhile to...

So ther is a syndrome called “imposter syndrome.” It is generally applied to professionals who, despite their credentials don’t feel like they really are as accomplished as their credentials say they are. I read an article by a doctor with imposter syndrome, she said she uses those feeling of...

It might be, self-esteem and weird thinking (cognitive distortion) are definitely part of PTSD. Taking time for yourself is not valued, not in this society and not in law enforcement. Think about things that are bragged about...working 24 hours straight on 2 hours of sleep? Work ethic and taking...

Me too. I had a neuropsych, I’m over analyzing, and making stupid mistakes all due to PTSD.

As a now-retired, cop with PTSD, I can tell you, default reaction for just about every emotion is anger or irritability, and then control. As in, I’m scared there’s a gun in this car, “HANDS UP, DONT MOVE!!!” From the perspective of a spouse with PTSD; he’s wonderful and normal, and why should...

Ha! A guardian angel would be awesome! But seriously, paraprofessional are regularly assigned to assist students, at a graduate level it may be appropriate to have a peer assigned, or a student in another program, maybe education, pre-law or law school to assist you. A letter from your doc...

Tryingtocope: I’m sorry you are going through this. I recently had to advocate for accommodations for myself, and I totally get how upsetting and mentally draining the process is. You might try finding an advocacy group in your area such as PACER, or a disability law center to help you advocate...

Grit: I’m not sure why you feel that trauma has to be spoken. Friday: What you have said makes a lot of sense to me, I don’t have a lot of use for EMDR either. I feel like so much of my professional life I have spent simply reacting to trauma and not paying attention to any kind of emotional...

Group therapy for vets is said to be especially helpful. I go to group therapy with other cops, it’s helpful to know you are not the only one going through what you’re going through. Vets and cops bond with other vets and cops because of shared similar experiences and being able to bond over the...

Remember that PTSD is a stress disorder. Your body physically can’t tell the difference between your work stress and your original trauma stress, so it reacts by shutting you down. It sounds like you know what is triggering you, so finding another way to deal with your work stress will probably...

Please talk with a lawyer. Many offer free consultations. Your doc and therapist are on your team, but they can only help you get so far. Disability insurance, FMLA, SSDI and state laws are all very complex. You may also be eligible for disability accommodations at your current place of...

There are 2 parts to memory, intake and retrieval. I just went through a neuropsych eval, my memory is fine, but retrieval is problematic because of everything else in my head. Yours sounds like a retrieval issue...? There are times, however, when I will be in an important meeting, Doctor...

Re: Looking at things logically and re-framing. Feelings of impending doom: When I’ve tried to describe this feeling to others, I describe it as the feeling you get when you read a scary book or watch a scary movie and although the main character doesn’t know something is going to happen, you...