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What would you be doing if you weren't feeling emotionally numb? Do it! We block our feelings because we have been hurt in the past, hurt enough that it is safer for us to feel nothing than to risk being hurt again plus the fear that if we let ourselves feel anything, everything will come...

Lurking is good. Everybody likes a medic hanging around :tup: Share when you feel a need to. Ted

Nightmares are just intrusive thoughts and feelings passing in the night. As with any passing intrusive thoughts and feelings (daydreams, flashbacks, nightmares, and so on) there are three things we need to do. First, when we become aware intrusive thoughts and feelings are passing, we need to...

If you are in a hostile environment (traumatic situation) and especially if you have previous trauma you have to remove yourself from the hostile situation and get yourself to a safe place. Now. Ted

Y'know Kle, you express a feeling well that we all have at a certain point in learning to live with ptsd. We want our life back, for those of us who remember a person that was before the trauma. And for those of us who don't really remember such a person or time, there's just the feeling this...

Aww ... ((((((((((((ScaredOfLonely))))))))))))) I used to say surrounded by people who would be my friends if only I could let them. It took a lot of therapy and effort, but these days I am able to let them, and life is good. Not without challenges, but good. To get started I had to pick...

The hospital is a safe place, a good place to let the current set of intrusive thoughts and feelings pass, a good place to develop a plan for learning to live better with PTSD. Take care, Lostregien. Try to be gentle with yourself. Ted

Well Jovie, I'm pretty sure there is a you to begin with. There's you who's pretty much more or less normal busy getting your current needs met in your current situation. And then there's you when you are acting out the intense feelings you buried when you were doing what you had to do to...

A good trauma therapist is a good start, Trina. So send in those papers so you can make appointments :) Normal (non-traumatized) people work through their issues, put them behind them, and move on. People with ptsd learn to manage their symptoms and live a little better each day with ptsd...

The best treatment for depression is participating in relationships and activities you would enjoy if you weren't depressed. Participate until the mood passes and you discover you are enjoying yourself. Ted

You should have no problem with a GAF of 45 (mine was 55) and a primary diagnosis of PTSD, and a lawyer that is familiar with SSD processes. The SSD people may sent you to their shrink, who will likely say the problem is something other than PTSD, and that your problem doesn't necessarily...

I have learned challenging "I can't do this" is key to learning to live well with PTSD. I would be a nervous wreck prior to doing it, but I would counter those feelings by planning the event and visualizing a positive outcome. Imagine how proud your daughter will be that you participated...

I would describe a trigger as anything (sight, touch, smell, sound, taste, thought, behavior) that stimulates one or more of the intense thoughts and/or feelings we have stuffed in the process of doing what we had to do to survive the abnormal (traumatic) situation. Ted

A low dose (20mg) of paxil (generic) works well for me. It takes the edge off ptsd symptoms and allows me to manage them with CBT tools I have learned in therapy. Ted

Police were a trigger for me too. Then at one point in my military career I ended up in the military police (national guard), surrounded by people who were police in one department or another in civilian life and military police in the military. Being surrounded by them was a constant trigger...

Oops ... Oh well. We do feel things intensely. My therapist used to point out to me this can be a good thing. We can experience a grandchild or other of life's joys with an intensity she can only imagine. We just have to bring ourselves back to the not so intense world before we act on our...

You certainly do a nice job of describing the passing intrusive thoughts and feelings. You are not the problem. Your Grandfather and your Dad were the problem. You sound like a very competent person who did very well, but now you have the challenge of learning to continue to be successful...

Way to go Ayesha!!! Ted

Thanks :) In my twenties, with my first wife, I thought that particular symptom was a big problem. Of course when I was in my twenties they had not yet "discovered" ptsd ;). I just knew I would lose interest for months at a time, then make myself participate for a while, then lose interest...

One of my ptsd symptoms is anhedonia. The ability to handle physical intimacy is ok, but the interest is not there. For myself and my wife the lack of interest in physical intimacy is not a problem. We enjoy each other's company and support, we enjoy our children and grandchildren and, for...

That's because suppressing the feelings (stuffing them) will only make them come out even srronger the next time they are triggered. Not turning the feelings into behavior is one aspect of learning to live better with PTSD. Processing the feelings in a way that is safe and is minimally...

Different medications work dirrerently with different people. Many psychotropics take several weeks to stabilize, so sometimes you have to be patient. I have PTSD with Depression. After a few tries and much research, I tried Paxil. It is an SSRI. For me, it takes away most of the persistent...

Still golf season in Michigan (just north of southern Ontario) :) Ted

No, you can't make the old feelings go away, but you don't have to act on them even though it feels like you do. Based on what you wrote, I would say you are in a good relationship, just not participating. Participate. Our challenge is behaving appropriately in our current situation while the...