Anxiety And Depression After Trauma, Afraid To Move Out

[Ptsd2015]

I was away at college until 6 months ago when I was in a terrible car accident. I moved back in with my parents while I was physically recovering. I have had an absolutely terrible time recovering mentally though. I already had bad anxiety, and it has not gone away but I now get episodes of depression. I had a concussion in the accident, but I don't have signs otherwise of complications. The doctors say the depression if from being traumatized. Has anyone else experienced this? How long did it last?
I am also planning to move back to college in the fall but I am feeling really anxious about moving away from my parents. I had a hard time living on my own before because of my anxiety, and now I feel even more messed up. The most comfort I get from my anxiety is knowing that my parents are nearby in case of an emergency. Most of my anxiety is health anxiety so I get anxious about being home alone and being away from people I know. I am also worried the depression will get worse without my parents around to support me. I have had a pretty difficult time emotionally before living away from home.
Is it a smart decision to move away again in 3 months? Or should I give myself more time to recover? I would be moving 1 1/2 hour away. I would say I have very severe anxiety and moderate depression.

 

[anonymous]

I'm guessing you've been officially diagnosed based on your username? (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

There is no real answer to your question of how long depression after being traumatized can last. Some people with severe PTSD may suffer from depression for life while others recover much sooner. It really does vary.

Have you started treatment for PTSD yet? If not, I suggest finding a trauma therapist to help guide your healing. Pushing yourself to go back to school with an untreated, new PTSD diagnosis could indeed be a recipe for disaster.

 

[Ptsd2015]

I have been diagnosed. I have been having PTSD symptoms for 4 months now. I am going to therapy but I'm not sure if I could be going to a better therapist. It just wasn't was I was hoping for in therapy, but I am sticking with it. I've had an improvement in symptoms since going, I'm just not sure if it will be enough to live on my own soon.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

What are you looking for in therapy?

 

[Ptsd2015]

I was hoping for someone to sit down and help me pinpoint the specific things causing my anxiety and then give me advice on what could help me fix the anxiety. I was hoping they would have experience with what works and doesn't work to fix anxiety and be able to advise me on what would be helpful for me.
With the person I've been going to, they seem to ask me if I'm anxious and when I say yes they tell me that the anxiety is silly and illogical, so I shouldn't be anxious.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Ok, I think that you've found a not so great therapist. I'm not sure why someone with that attitude would want to become a therapist.

Actually, it doesn't matter if the anxiety is silly or even illogical! I'd say that a high percentage of us experience anxiety over things that normal people would indeed deem to be "illogical!" Honestly, telling someone these things isn't helpful.

I want to urge you to find a therapist who works with trauma and/or anxiety in order to give you more constructive help. Have you heard of CBT? I went to a CBT therapist and it was just like going to class once a week and learning how to "fix" my anxiety issues. Of course, this is a more structured type of CBT, but it fit me well at the time. I had an anxiety workbook and each week I would sit down with the therapist and we would discuss things that caused my anxiety and things I could do to fix the anxiety. It was extremely helpful.

ETA

through CBT you may become more aware of what are rational fears and what are more irrational fears, and learn to avoid catastrophizing, while you put those fears in perspective, but flat out telling someone that their fears are silly and illogical really isn't helpful to healing.

 

[Ptsd2015]

That sounds exactly like what I am looking for! Now I know it is out there. The person I'm going to said she does CBT but I didn't know how it worked so I wasn't sure if she was doing that or not. I think she is more of a talk therapist for people to work out relationship issues with.

 

[Anxious Alyssa]

Hi there, a few days ago I moved away from home to a city 2 hours away from my parents to be with my boyfriend but also for school, there's only one school in my state for what I'm studying so I had no choice! I suffered from massive anxiety as a child and its coming back even harder now with depression.
I miss my parents like crazy,I went from never being alone and always having something to do do being alone the majority of the day with nothing to occupy my time.
I was wondering if you could give an update as to what you ended up doing and how your coping or coped with it? Our situations aren't completely the same but I feel like I can relate to your situation, thanx!