Brain Programmed To Suffer

[Thinkingman85]

New gamma rays, I know exactly where you are coming from. I constantly wonder if I'll ever be able to do the things I use to do without going through pain or shunning away. What's helping me the most is an antidepressant. It's actually battling the negative feelings. I'll look more into Undoing Perpetual Stress, but the belief that I can heal myself without medication seems like a rare chance. Six years of suffering has been long enough. PTSD due to family is horrible. I don't speak with my remaining family. It's always a power struggle and I would have to get violent to keep my family members in their place. I'm not going to stoop to that level. Hopefully, you feel better. This condition is annoying because it is so mysterious, but sooner or later, you start to get comfortable with it. It's a gradual process.

 

[timid_flower]

The brain is programmed to not accept happiness and your role is one that suffers 24/7.

I don't believe my brain is programmed to not accept happiness, but I do doubt and resist any feelings of happiness. For me I think it's because I spent years pretending I was ok. I faked happiness for so long. Now when those feelings arise, I question if they are real or it's just my deception skills that are improving. It can be quite confusing.

 

[Thinkingman85]

PTSD might increase the feeling of paranoia. I think it's normal to doubt feeling happier. As I feel better, I actually have a dizzy feeling. It's like I'm trying to reconnect to something alien.

 

[Lady Vet]

I think it's normal to doubt feeling happier. As I feel better, I actually have a dizzy feeling. It's like I'm trying to reconnect to something alien.

I experience this, as well. It's crazy how even feeling wonderful feelings can make us dizzy...sigh.

 

[timid_flower]

I do doubt and resist any feelings of happiness.

Then again, today I'm feeling happy and I'm not going to question it. I'm going to try to enjoy it :)

 

[Thinkingman85]

Me too. Glad you're feeling happy. I can feel the holiday spirit. I'm starting to realize that I have to get over my father's passing. I don't know how I will, but I can't continue living like this. Life has too much to offer.

 

[timid_flower]

Thank you thinkingman :)

My advice to you is be kind to yourself. It's great when we can see what needs to be done to move forward. You're ready to grieve your father's death and that's great progress, but you won't do it all tonight. Today you feel the holiday spirit. If that makes you happy, even a little, I say embrace it. For now we can start enjoying life one moment at a time. Best wishes to you :)

 

[Bone Gryphon]

I think PTSD is not so much a damaged brain, But an injury to the psyche. It is an anxiety based disorder that needs treatment to heal. Once the brain has the relative amount of neurotransmitter it needs from SSRI-anti-depressants then it is in place to be re-trained with CBT.

The root causes of the anxiety can then be helped with CBT. Like a retraining of the mind that has developed a pattern. It is not necessarily that you will not feel any pleasure anymore. If you seek help you may indeed enjoy a better quality of life.

I gained this knowledge from a mental health first aid course that I attended.

I have been on Anti-depressants for about 9 months now. And the satisfaction that I get from my day to day living is satisfying enough to enjoy a better quality of life. I do not know if these symptoms will relieve any further, But any hope that I may have always allows me to have hope for a better future.

I have nearly completed my IT degree, and when I do complete it, It will be an achievement that I have longed for all my adult life and there can be no greater satisfaction in achieving this milestone for me personally. Not only have I nearly finished my degree I've performed exceptionally well. In Australia we have a GPA system out of 7. My GPA sits around the 6.2 out of 7 mark. I've been working part time as well so this gives me my self esteem in knowing that I can live independently and am able to look after myself and my wellbeing.

I can empathise with you, When my ptsd was not treated it felt as though the effort you put into everything is tormented and you cannot enjoy yourself anymore. But I think with time, medication and therapy, you can relearn to use your abilities to enjoy a satisfactory life and be able to better look after yourself.

 

[Lady Vet]

I think PTSD is not so much a damaged brain, But an injury to the psyche

Just for information...SPECT scans, PET scans, and MEG scans have all documented the scarring that does damage the brain, so the damage to parts of the brain is now a scientific fact. You can actually see the "hot spots" where the damage has taken place, where the scarring has altered that part of the brain's ability to function within "normal" parameters.

However, these same pieces of scientific technology also document that the damage that does take place doesn't have to be a permanent damage, because there are also "before" and "after" scans that absolutely show the brain CAN and DOES heal itself. Not by itself, and definitely not very quickly. But with treatment, over time, the damage created by the trauma event (that perhaps also shocks/traumatizes the psyche) CAN and DOES heal. That's the good news. :)

The harder news (not "bad" news) is that for each of us, it's a long, hard road to finding the right combinations of treatments, therapies, interventions that help our specific and unique brain to heal the scarring of the brain (and psyche).

Peace be the journey!

 

[Thinkingman85]

Thank you very much Bone Gryphon. I'm glad that you are doing better. That's the approach I'm taking right now... medication and therapy. I'm looking forward to going back to college and finishing my degree. Stability is definitely a huge factor.

 

[Lady Vet]

I gained this knowledge from a mental health first aid course that I attended.

I have been treated for panic attacks by multiple doctors and fully certified mental health providers for 27 years, and one thing I have personally learned is that the root cause of PTSD is not anxiety. Every one of these providers told me that I needed to learn how to relax if I wanted the panic attacks to stop. Well, after 27 years of relaxation interventions, when I was hooked up to a biofeedback machine this past summer for the next round of learning how to relax, the machine measured a 97% coherence (which meant that I was achieving a nearly perfect physiological relaxation at a level that most people never achieve), yet I was experiencing a series of panic attacks at the same time that the machine was telling us that I WAS relaxed. So, no. Anxiety is NOT the root cause of my PTSD.

I think what makes PTSD so hard to treat is that everyone's brain is unique. That's why they have to do brain mapping on every individual before they do brain surgery, because everyone's brain is different. So perhaps for one person, taking SSRIs is enough to fill that gap. But for another person, it doesn't even begin to heal the damage.

So I am very glad that the medication therapy is helping both of you, and I hope it continues to do so. :)

PTSD is definitely an individual journey.

 

[Abstract]

the machine measured a 97% coherence (which meant that I was achieving a nearly perfect physiological relaxation at a level that most people never achieve), yet I was experiencing a series of panic attacks at the same time that the machine was telling us that I WAS relaxed. So, no. Anxiety is NOT the root cause of my PTSD.

That is incredibly interesting Lady Vet. Thank you for sharing. I am trying to get my head around it.