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Deep inside we have this ball of intense feelings, all the feelings related to all the traumas we have experienced, all interwoven and knotted and tangled and ready to explode into our current situation when triggered. The intense feeling in most noticed when it is experienced as anger because...

There are medications that can immediately prevent you from hurting yourself and others, if the situation calls for those. Those medications generally inhibit you from doing much of anything. Then there are medications which can help by addressing chemical imbalances in our system. Many of...

Major depression involves chemical imbalances in our brains that alter our perceptions so that everything seems to feed the intense feeling of hopelessness, spiraling us deeper and deeper into the mood. The mood is not about the other person or the perceived hopeless situation. If the other...

Complex PTSD is experienced as so personal, with so much guilt and hopelessness that suidide seems the only option. It is not the only option. The healthy option is to participate in therapy with a qualified support team, a clinical psychologist to guide you through cognitive therapy and help...

I found trazadone helped me learn to sleep, within the context of participating daily in a very active exercise program. After a couple of years I was able to taper off the medication and sleep very well as long as I maintained my exercise program.

I was denied, called 1-800-Call-Sam, was referred to a firm that specialized in SSD, and won the appeal. The amount they charged was reasonable, set by SSA, not a percentage of the total settlement. Good luck. Ted

Well PerfectlyFlawed, I like your title. I believed I was defective for a very long time, that I somehow was responsible for all this stuff that seemed to happen to me, around me. Perfectly flawed. Defective in some way. Later I learned PTSD develops when a normal person (adult or child) is...

((((((((((Junebug)))))))))) Happy Birthday! Ted

I was medically retired at 19 1/2 years for PTSD in 2001. Once I was medically retired I updated my VA claim and (after a reasonably brief process) and was increased to 100% for PTSD, then I filed SSD and (after a lengthy process, including initial rejection and appeal) was awarded SSD. The...

Welcome, Shamrocks. I came home from Vietnam in 68 (one of "those" Vietnam Vets). It took me until 95 to begin to participate in my own therapy and until 2001 to fully participate. Prior to 95 I lived out my set of symptoms (labels are for the Docs, what we have is a set of symptoms), just...

You did we'll, Ayasha. Keep trying, but always have an exit plan and share it with the people around you, and give yourself permission to use it. Two things will likely develop. First the fact that you have an exit plan that you have shared will reduce some of the anxiety and panic. And...

I think joy and happiness come from participation in an integrated set of relationships and activities that are appropriate to our current situation. Untreated PTSD leaves us able to do an activity, but unable to participate in it, and relationships are just too scary to consider. If we do an...

For the first 25 years following Vietnam, I worked full-time usually lasting at any one job or position for six months to three years, usually finding some "reason" to leave that job or position without any consideration of what I might do next, usually taking some time off (a month or two up to...

Hey 1016, no doubt you will do well deployed because that's what you do, as my wife put it years ago. It's coming home and learning to live with the intrusive thoughts and feelings in a civilian environment that's the challenge. I deployed to Desert Storm already diagnosed with PTSD...

I received SSD for 10 year for not being able to work due to PTSD until I turned 65, when it turned into regular social security. You need a lawyer that specializes in SSD. The lawyer will evaluate your situation, and the fee is set by statue and paid by SS as part of your settlement. At...

Hi, I received marriage counseling through the VA in conjunction with my PTSD program, at my PTSD team's suggestion. It worked out well for us. At one point, when I was rated 100% but not yet eligible for Tricare, my wife was entitled to VA care through the program that replaced ChampVA...

My T was big on exercise as a key part of my therapeutic program, and I was still in the military, which was big on pt anyway, so it was easy for me to build regular exercise into my lifestyle. I liked to jog first thing in the morning for an hour or so, then do a half hour of exercises...

In developing sets of behaviors needed to survive in hostile (traumatic) environments we develop strict rules of behavior for ourselves. In the hostile environment the penalty for violating a rule is death or torture. Once we are out of the hostile environment it is very hard (and very anxiety...

I did 104 days inpatient at the National Center for PTSD Palo Alto VA, Menlo Park campus. I have been in PTSD groups with a lot of people who attended 30 day programs, frequently repeating the program annually. The first, and perhaps hardest lesson is that you have to participate fully in the...

Good days come now and then, especially with grandchildren around. Enjoy them when they happen, savor them while you are executing the routine that gets you through the other days, anticipate the next enjoyable day. It will come. Learning to let ourselves enjoy is a major step in recovery...

You express the feeling of PTSD well. Before we learn to understand PTSD and how to manage our behavior in our current situation, we act out the intense feelings "automatically" and the behavior is inappropriate in our current situation. Once we are away from whatever triggered the intense...

In my sixties I have learned to focus on my little corner of the world and let the rest of the world take care of itself. My little corner of the world is a physical place and a set of activities and relationships I find enjoyable (though not without challenges) and fullfilling and which do not...

I started with my first therapist in 1984, walked away in 86. Started with my second therapist in 87, walked away in 88, went back to the same therapist in 91, walked away in 92. Also started with my third therapist in 87, walked away in 88. Started with my fourth therapist in 94, walked away...

It is worth it to participate in therapy, the diagnosis is just part of the process. You are not required to take medication. Ask for a clinical psychologist as your therapist (there may be a waiting list) and when you begin therapy tell your therapist you do not want medication. Ted

Yes. It's a matter of learning the specifics of your case (symptoms, triggers), processing and reframing the intense thoughts and feelings with the support of a clinical psychologist, learning self-awareness (mindfulness), refocusing on your current situation and developing a set of activities...