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Medical Any mental health workers, social workers, psychologist, psychiatrist, md, nurses diagnoses with PTSD

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rusty_maestro

Confident
I was a mental health worker for 15yrs and got diagnosed with ptsd from my work couple years ago. I was told it's rare but it happens. I live in a small town far north and help is to say the least inadequate. Privacy is a huge issues. Feeling isolated, 18yrs relationship broke down few weeks ago, people dont believe I have ptsd cause I look so chill im told. To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction I say. Anyway, if anyone in the health care profession has ptsd, how are guys dealing with it, what is/was your experience like? Can't help to feel as a mental health worker that I should have it under control, because I understand what is going on, I teach people skills to deal with it, but yet it still creates havoc in my body. Frustrating.
 
I'm a therapist-to-be (not quite finished yet) and actually had to take a break from working with patients for 2,5 years now because the PTSD symptoms were so through the roof.
I definitely have a hard time applying my professional knowledge to my personal life and it is frustrating. I keep thinking I should know what to do but sometimes things to really transfer from one brain to the other, so to speak.
 
I definitely have a hard time applying my professional knowledge to my personal life and it is frustrating. I keep thinking I should know what to do but sometimes things to really transfer from one brain to the other, so to speak

YES! It’s like knowing how to eat right to maintain weight...but unable to apply and put into practice the knowledge we have...
 
YES! It’s like knowing how to eat right to maintain weight...but unable to apply and put into practice the knowledge we have...
Unfortunately. What I also found to be unhelpful was my last therapist who sometimes seemed to forget that I was there as the 'private" me. Thus, at least in my opinion, seemingly assume that I understood things that I don't.
 
I never claimed to have fully understood ptsd during my practice and would always refer people to more specialized services to get treatment on ptsd. Now sadly I grasp the whole experience but I can't do my job anymore. Will have to find other ways to help people but it bites cause I quite enjoyed counselling. It's a process to let it go.
 
I never claimed to have fully understood ptsd during my practice and would always refer people to more specialized services to get treatment on ptsd. Now sadly I grasp the whole experience but I can't do my job anymore. Will have to find other ways to help people but it bites cause I quite enjoyed counselling. It's a process to let it go.
I'm not sure if I can continue working in the field but I want to try at least one last time and see what happens when I start back up. Otherwise I'll always wonder what if....
If it doesn't work out I know there are plenty of other things to do but I am not ready to give up yet.
 
I'm not sure if I can continue working in the field but I want to try at least one last time and see what happens when I start back up. Otherwise I'll always wonder what if....
If it doesn't work out I know there are plenty of other things to do but I am not ready to give up yet.
for me unfortunately workers compensation has prevented me to go back. They basically took my job away. Probably a good things because I still have some triggers and some stories would just get to me but now what? The reorientation process aint easy especially when you are not feeling at your best, relationship ended and you are in the middle of pandemic. Confident I will figure out but for now, it feels like I'm free falling.
 
for me unfortunately workers compensation has prevented me to go back. They basically took my job away. Probably a good things because I still have some triggers and some stories would just get to me but now what? The reorientation process aint easy especially when you are not feeling at your best, relationship ended and you are in the middle of pandemic. Confident I will figure out but for now, it feels like I'm free falling.
I understand and know the feeling of free falling. It sucks. I hate not knowing what comes next, what to expect.
 
I'm a therapist-to-be (not quite finished yet) and actually had to take a break from working with patients for 2,5 years now because the PTSD symptoms were so through the roof.
I definitely have a hard time applying my professional knowledge to my personal life and it is frustrating. I keep thinking I should know what to do but sometimes things to really transfer from one brain to the other, so to speak.
I am curious, what symptoms do you experience. For me it's that constant buzzing feeling in my body and sleepless night which eventually affect your mood, patience and energy level. I had to go get tested for covid-19 and that sky rocketed my stress. I consider myself fit and doing 50 push ups in a row aint a problem for me but the day after I got tested and had to isolate I couldnèt do more than 2 push up. My nervous system was capoute. I don't how it goes for people here but i find when I tell people I have ptsd they don't believe me. What are we supposed to do, get all dramatic about it? Lash out? Some days I sure feel like it but it aint gonna help so I breath and manage my behavior and I look cool like a cucumber but inside me it's a different story.
 
Well, let's see. There are still plenty. I have anxiety, flashbacks but mostly intrusive symptoms with which I'm still in the present, some sleep issues still e.g. difficulty going to sleep because dark/night seems to be a trigger, hypervigilance is still up quite a bit but getting better, socially isolating, dissociation, some depressive symptoms.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I know there is still a lot there. It's just that I'm tired of this stuff dictating how I live my life. I know some stuff will always be there and I'll have to find a way to deal with that but I'm more than my symptoms and I do have moments in which I feel "normal". Usually those are when I am in my professional brain. Part of that may be that the focus is off me and what's going on (I guess one could see that as avoidance) but those moments are a true respite from all the craziness that's been going on the last 3 years.
 
My therapist said the buzzing im experiencing is my anger. I sure do have lots of that, but the adrenal system is surely very active to and the feeling seems more akin to that then my anger. That hypervigilance gets very annoying as well. I can't say I have a sense of impending doom and some anxious thought happening but it feels to me like I hear everything, smell, see, feel everything around me and it becomes a sensory overload. I came across that book and I thought it was an interesting take on the matter and helped put some perspective to what I am going through, a positive spin on ptsd I guess. I would recommend the read if you haven't already. Its an easy read. Dead Link Removed by Judith Orloff
 
@rusty_maestro Sounds like an interesting read. The whole senses running overload has been an issue here too. As far as noise goes I've actually locked myself in a quiet room for a few hours just to calm the overload.
 
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