Asking For Specific Ptsd Help? Scared :(

[Dreamz]

Hello everyone, I'm kind of stuck and would just really appreciate some feedback! So I'm 23 yrs old, after dealing with emotional problems for a long time I finally saw a therapist from August until November. It was a discounted sliding scale therapy program for a certified therapist who needs to finish their "hours". Anyway, she mentioned I should look into PTSD, but can't make a diagnosis for insurance reasons. I have another appointment with her on Wednesday so I'll ask her to elaborate.

I feel so ..... odd asking for specific help for this? Not sure why. I have had a feeling this is my issue but I guess its just hard putting a name to it, and then asking for help. And this isn't going to go over with the boyfriend well at all :( so any advice??

I have seen 3 family members pass away, been in 2 car accidents (one wasn't even a month ago) and just generally anxious, irritable with reccurring nightmares. Where do I start looking for specific PTSD help? :(

Thank you all so much!

 

[chant2012]

Hi there! I am sorry you are struggling with this and for what you have endured to get to this point. You have my support! Try this site. It's great!:)

This just has a lot if info along with other things that can go along with or be affected by PTSD. Wishing you the best! It is scary but you'll get through this.

 

[rainy_daze]

Hopefully the therapist you are seeing can give you the contact details of a professional who can give you a diagnosis, and hopefully that person can find you the treatment for what is going on. I'm a bit annoyed a therapist would tell you to look into PTSD and then not tell you where you could get a diagnosis or be screened for the symptoms.

I'm not sure what to say about your boyfriend. I guess if it was me I would hold off telling him until I knew whether I had PTSD or not, and if I told him and he didn't understand, it would be his loss. It's not something you can magically prevent from happening to you.

I agree with chant, there's some good help pages on the wiki (I would start there) and many threads. I hope you can get a diagnosis soon and start to look into what therapy and support will suit you. I wish you all the best in finding the support you need.

 

[WillyKat]

My two cents is that "PTSD" often brings out a knee-jerk reaction. Very few people know anything about it other than what they see in the media, which is usually reduced to a 2-second sound bite.

My suggestion is to tell your bf what you went through, what your symptoms are, how hard it is for you.

But that's just my opinion. I stopped saying PTSD to people and just tell them what happened. Mind you, I only tell someone about once per year.

 

[Dreamz]

Thank you all so much for the kind and thoughtful replies, I'm feeling a lot more confident :-)

 

[Dreamz]

an update: should have thought of this first, I'll need medical insurance before getting any kind of diagnosis. But my T is being really helpful and I'm glad to be back in therapy :) and actually looking forward to the next appointment.