Does It Ever Get Better?

[Gina C.]

I'm almost 23 and I've been suffering from PTSD since I was 11, does it ever get easier, I feel like I'm on a roller coaster half the time, and certain things never get easier. I suffer because of a rape I endured when I was 11 by my step dad. Because of it, I cant sleep in the dark, I cant sleep on my back, I cant sleep with my bedroom door closed but all of the other doors have to be closed (bathroom and closet door) so that I can keep an eye on the doors. If the window or blinds are exposed even the tiniest bit I cant get dressed in my room in fear of someone watching me like he use to. I need advice because my emotional roller coaster is getting out of control and I feel bad for my fiance because one minute I'm fine and the next I'm not and he doesnt like having light on while we are sleeping or having the bedroom door open.

 

[Anna]

It doesn't go away, but it does get better. Hold on in there. With therapy you can learn to live with PTSD.
Are you seeing a therapist at the moment? There are ways to cope. It never goes away but it becomes easier with time.

As for your fiance, he will have to learn to live with certain things. If you feel comfortable having a light on, maybe instead of the main light, get a small night light for your table to have on. He needs to compromise, surely he wants you to feel safe? If having the door open and some light in the room makes you feel safer he should accept this.

 

[Beverly G.]

I feel for you because the same thing happened to my daughter when she was 9. She went to therapy early on and now seems fine. She is a beautiful 19 year old in college getting a degree in psychology because she wants to help children who have been effected like this.
I suffer now more from her ordeal than she does. She keeps telling me there was nothing I could have done but guilt is difficult to over come.

 

[Belle]

Hi Gina
I just have to let you know that yes it can get better! I was raped years ago by an ex partner who stalked me and one night I woke to find him in my bedroom having climbed over a metal fence and through my window.

I couldn't sleep without the landing light on, without having all the covers tightly wrapped around me in a 'cocoon'.

Since therapy I have been able to sleep 2 nights with the window open. This doesn't sound much but to me it is huge!

So I can only say that if you have the right therapist you can make small steps towards coming off that roller coaster because I have :)

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