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Walking away feels good at the time, but seldom works out well. In the US PTSD is a disability with a set of protections and rules related to the workplace. Learn the rules related to PTSD in your workplace and use them. And if your case of PTSD is severe enough that you need to be out of the...

That is a pretty good summary of what PTSD feels like. And potential care, military or civilian, doesn't feel appropriate at first for any of us. Someone should just make things right. So, we live out our symptoms until we are ready (if ever) to accept help and participate in therapy. When...

Make a note of the feeling and what triggered it (if you think you know), then refocus on your current behavior in your current situation. At the next therapy session, review the notes with your therapist. Ted

My flashbacks are gone. They are now memories, and no longer have the intense impact on my current situation the flashbacks had. The process of getting rid of the flashbacks is initially making detailed notes of everything you felt and can remember about the flashback and sharing the notes...

A friend of mine, a combat vet from Vietnam 100% PTSD, died in prison for killing a brother-in-law who was abusing his sister. So sad. It is so easy for those of us with PTSD to ignore the consequences of behavior, especially morally righteous behavior. We will do what needs to be done, just...

I used to call that mood waiting for a self nominating target. Acting out that mood, usually on people in leadership positions who obviously needed some creative learning experience in leadership, is pretty much what led to my medical retirement from the military and federal civil service. It...

Write down whatever comes to mind Piratelady. There is no wrong answer. If you can, identify the feeling (anger, sadness, anxious apprehension, whatever you choose to call it) and rate it on a scale of 1 -10. Also jot down specific things you did and are doing or want to do at the moment. As...

That's the feeling Wagg. We all stuffed a lot of feelings in doing what we had to do to survive and get by in our assorted traumatic situations and now we're left with these intense thoughts and feelings constantly bubbling up and intruding in our current situation. The problem is that when we...

No Wings, it's not your fault. We all learned ways of getting through hostile situations and when something in our current, hopefully non-hostile situation reminds us of something in the hostile situation we fall back to getting by now like we did then. Our challenge is to learn to act...

Self-monitoring is an important step in understanding PTSD and recovery. I learned to monitor anger and depression and anxious apprehension as an inpatient at The National Center for PTSD. First I learned to estimate my current levels. Then I learned to pay attention to low levels and...

I learned to share. I usually explained that ment I always intend to act appropriately and usually do act appropriately but every now and then the intense feelings will catch me by surprise and some angry or otherwise inappropriate behavior will sneak through. I don't dwell on it or discuss...

Routine is the core of a good recovery program for people with PTSD. We need to develope a healthy routine that includes lots of exercise and social interaction and activities that help us feel productive and worthwhile, then on the days/weeks/months we don't feel like keeping the routine up we...

If you have a "can of worms," a set of thoughts and feelings your mind keeps buried somewhere beyond conscious memory to protect you and free you to focus on the things you need to do in your current situation, sooner or later the can of worms will open. It's not unusual for that to happen in...

I took Paxil 20 mg for almost 10 years, until very recently. My doc had me start with 10 mg for the first 4 months, then took me to 20 mg. I was taking Trazadone to help me sleep initially, so if the Paxil had the effect you mention it was offset by the Trazadone. After a couple of years I no...

Depression feels angry and stupid to me. Depression is just anger turned inward and PTSD is all about anger, so I guess it's pretty natural for PTSD depression to feel angry. And when the anger is turned inward its all about letting yourself be so stupid and naive over and over and knowing...

Sure. You found a thought that grounded you when you realized you needed to ground yourself. It's very comforting to have that tool in your toolbox of coping strategies. Sounds way better than wearing a rubber band on your wrist and snapping it periodically to keep yourself grounded :) Ted

It's ok to cry in therapy. It's part of the therapeutic process. Keep talking about the stuff you need to talk about. Ted

Trazadone worked for me, letting me get enough sleep to get out of the ongoing state of sleep deprivation while I worked through my issues with a very good VA clinical psychologist for a few years. In the short term meds can reduce some symptoms, get you some sleep. In the long term you need...

You have nothing to prove. Just share the stuff you need to share. Your T won't cure you, but your T can help you learn to live better with your specific set of PTSD symptoms. Of course, if you chose not to share anything really important with your T, the help you receive may not address the...

I typically drive about 4 over too and people tailgating me trigger a lot of anger too. I'm not usually in a hurry, so when someone tailgates me, I just slow down to exactly the speed limit. Kind of passive aggressive, but I imagine driving exactly the speed limit generates signifant stress...

Your neighbors may seem noisy, inconsiderate and obnoxious, but it's not your neighbors that give you nightmares. Things they do trigger stuff related to traumatic memories. Traumatic memories generate a set of PTSD symptoms, one of which is nightmares. If your neighbors are actually acting...

Yes, especially on the phone with anyone (even loved ones) or in a meeting with any authority or would-be authority figure. It used to be a problem because I would say whatever I knew the other person didn't want to hear, even if it wasn't in my own best interest. I just wanted them to...

Friends are nice :) For me, life is pretty good but stuff in my current situation still triggers old stuff and I need to talk about PTSD stuff in a safe environment from time to time. I expect to always have that need. Stuffing that need when it bubbles up would only cause it to Intensify and...

In a hostile environment some of us learn to disassociate as a means of coping. Then once we are no longer in the hostile environment, some of us continue to disassociate to avoid situations that feel uncomfortable. That is a choice we make, although without significant therapeutic support it...

So therapy was good. You learned you aren't talking about the stuff you need to talk about. That's a big therapeutic step. Next step, spit it out. There is no neat way to talk about what you need to talk about. Just spit it out, whatever the "it" that pops into your mind during the next...