Cure For Ptsd: Possible Or Too Lofty A Goal?

[WillyKat]

This has come up in several threads over the past few months. Rather than hijack those threads, this deserves it's own.

I've been giving the subject of getting over or being cured of PTSD a lot of thought. On the one hand, the notion that there is no getting over it, that you'll always have some of it with you no matter what crushes a lot of people. On the surface, it sounds a lot like hopelessness. On the other hand, assuming that PTSD can be gotten rid of or cured sets up an out-of-reach goal. For those already feeling crushed by its weight every day, the distance between the hell of today and being cured seems too great to overcome. And that causes hopelessness. This is a very thorny subject.

I think everyone has to make up their own minds about this. What is working right now for me is to not worry about getting over it or being cured. I find that misleading. Instead, I'm trying to embrace my imperfect self, scars and all. It's a part of me and there's no sense in making believe it isn't. I'm trying to stay focused on dealing with my triggers, understanding how my mind works, and most importantly, making my life meaningful, finding a purpose, using the PTSD and all the hurt that comes with it to fight against the forces of evil that keep making more of it.

Thoughts?

 

[arfie]

Personally, I will believe in a cure for it when we develop a physical test for it. As it stands, I think it is far too poorly understood for such clarity. For all I know, mine might be fully cured already. I have been stable and functioning at high levels for years now. Can I drop the maintenance and "get on with my life?" Cured? Later gator?

Show me the physical proof first... For now, I'll keep up my maintenance program.

Good topic, Willy. Thank you.

edit: Anything is possible and lofty goals are worthy of pursuit.

 

[Notsowild]

Hey my favourite T @WillyKat ...

I did a similar thread " I am what I am". I am in therapy to deal with my new symptoms. But I do know I will always have the anxiety. I will never be "normal" but I can still have a meaningful life too. Good thread.

How much do I owe you lol?

 

[franciemarnie]

IMO it is absurd to say PTSD (or any condition) can never be cured unless whoever is saying that is God.

That said, it is without a doubt profoundly difficult to live with and healing can be slow, but the difference between the old days when I wasn't treated, and nowadays is night and day.

Acceptance of the condition and the fact that we can't predict with certainty any significant alleviation of symptoms or complete removal of all trauma energy and physical damage to the system on any calendar can make it easier though.

But I say anything is possible, however unlikely from this vantage point.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I don't think a cure is possible until science is able to determine the cellular, molecular, genetic, etc changes that occur in the body as a result of trauma, and THEN they can start working on a cure. I mean its like trying to cure something without even knowing how the trauma has affected us. Sure, we know on a more global level (ie flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, etc) but we don't know what happens on a microscopic level, at least not fully.

In the meantime I keep on working on healing. I'm getting better, bit by bit. I'm not holding out on a "cure" because right here, right now, it does me no good to want something that does not currently exist. I will get to a higher level of functioning, and I will have a more fulfilling life. But cure? I really hate that word. Until science tells me that there is a cure, I really don't feel like arguing it further. I just get told I am a negative person who should go away but I'm just being realistic in that no, science says there is no "cure". We can HEAL, but curing and healing are very different things.

 

[Hashi]

What do you mean by "cure"? I actually think that's a terrible word, I'm afraid, because to me it implies a fix, a treatment, a programme, something external.

But if you must use it, what is "not cured"? Still being symptomatic? As in flashbacks, nightmares and so on?

I think it would be helpful to be more specific. Because accepting limitations, accepting scars etc - that could still be healing, in my book. But I don't know what your frame of reference is. Or what "cured" means to you.

 

[Ladyghosthunter]

Unfortunately, the only cure for me would be total amnesia so I would forget my past which I don't think will happen anytime soon. My therapist asked me what I wanted out of therapy and I said to erase my past but I can't. It happened. I can't, no matter how hard I try, cannot forget (and somewhat forgive) those who have done their damage and the friends I lost in the shooting. I lost so much that I cannot nor will not get over it, no matter how much medicine or how much therapy I have. I cannot put it behind me, I cannot forget about it no matter what people say because it will forever be a part of me. You can't just "amputate" the horrors that people have been through; you can't just erase with rubber what damage has been imbedded in your mind; and you can't just take away peoples' experiences because they are what you have dealt with. My opinion my differ from others but there will never be a cure for PTSD because you can't take away something that is/was a part of you.

 

[WillyKat]

@Hashi,
I wasn't trying to be specific by using the term "cure", because I don't think anyone else has either. I've seen on the forum a few posts from time to time that speak of "getting over it" or "putting it all behind" me, etc. So maybe there isn't an agreed-upon definition of "over it" or "cure".

That said, I do think that early on in our treatment or recovery efforts, there is a tendency to think of PTSD as a sort of a brake job, a reboot, to return somehow to what we should have been had the traumatic event not occurred. And when it turns out that its not like a broken bone where you where a cast for six weeks and then can ski again, it's a huge let down. I've seen it time and again where people on the forum are looking for a knockout blow or a quick fix of some kind. Then their told there ain't one and their mood just spirals.

So…to get back to your question, I think there's general agreement that complete erasure / reboot / brain reprogramming is ridiculous, so let's go with this meaning of "cured": you no longer have PTSD symptoms and no longer feel the need to treat it or deal with it day to day. Is even that too lofty?

 

[Hashi]

I think there's general agreement that complete erasure / reboot / brain reprogramming is ridiculous, so let's go with this meaning of "cured": you no longer have PTSD symptoms and no longer feel the need to treat it or deal with it day to day. Is even that too lofty?

But I think the problem is that using the word "cured" immediately links it so erasure/reboot/reprogramming. And then people start to wonder how much erasure, rebooting or reprogramming is possible - for example via EMDR which is, after all, a "reprogramming" technique by definition.

No longer having PTSD symptoms, no longer feeling the need to treat it or deal with it day to day - to me that is healing, and completely unrelated to the idea of a cure. I no longer have any symptom except PTSD-related anxiety and I'm still working on that. I didn't get "cured" of any of the other symptoms, I've healed from them.

So I'm going to bow out of your "cured" thread, because "cured" is - to me - a non-starter. Good luck to anyone who wants a cure. Better luck, I think, for anyone who is working on healing.

 

[Caterpillar]

I've been thinking about this a lot over the last few days. I've tended to believe I could be cured/heal/get over it/whatever you want to call no longer having symptoms, since my traumas were limited in scope and mostly occurred in adulthood. But, like WillyKat, I'm starting to find that thinking unproductive. I need to work on getting some control over immediate issues. Someday in the future maybe I'll be cured, or maybe I won't, but I'll be better than I am now.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I agree with Hashi, healing in recovery is something I am now experiencing. I still have nightmares and the anxiety and I am working on that. But I have healed my scars significantly. I have been able to put the past where it belongs, in the past.

 

[Alien Goodness]

It's an interesting question. And an emotive one too.

This is my third attempt to write something on the subject, but my thoughts get all tangled up. Hope for a better future is important to me. But acknowledging how crap life is and not minimising pain, failure, etc. is important to me as well.

Personally I prefer the concept of managing my symptoms rather than erasing them as that seems impossible to me.

A final observation: The words "cure" & "healing" can mean different things to different people.