Dual PTSD and Vicarious Trauma/PTSD?

[Roland]

Hello everyone! So I have PTSD from childhood trauma (various types of ongoing abuse). I’m pursuing a career in American Sign Language interpreting. I just found out that since they interpret various situations, interpreters can experience vicarious trauma similar to law enforcement, and medical professionals. I was wondering how that would be? Does anyone in here have PTSD from something like abuse or domestic violence and pursuing a career that can cause PTSD as well? Can it make a person better at dealing with trauma and PTSD or can it just dehabilitate them? I would imagine the answer is something like yes/depends, but I’d love to hear others’ stories and input.

 

[RNrecovery]

I worked in mental health for 10+ years, then acute care nursing, then outpatient nursing with a lot of crisis intervention. I wouldn’t trade it for the world but I also couldn’t have done it without some really strong therapy in my late teens/early 20s. And when the stress of covid brought back my PTSD I wouldn’t have been able to handle it if I hadn’t a gotten back in therapy at the first signs of trouble.

I would just make sure you are solid yourself before doing anything. And get back into therapy quickly if you feel signs of work affecting you. I wish I had been a bit quicker about getting more therapy but who could have predicated COVID?

 

[Roland]

I worked in mental health for 10+ years, then acute care nursing, then outpatient nursing with a lot of crisis intervention. I wouldn’t trade it for the world but I also couldn’t have done it without some really strong therapy in my late teens/early 20s. And when the stress of covid brought back my PTSD I wouldn’t have been able to handle it if I hadn’t a gotten back in therapy at the first signs of trouble.

I would just make sure you are solid yourself before doing anything. And get back into therapy quickly if you feel signs of work affecting you. I wish I had been a bit quicker about getting more therapy but who could have predicated COVID?

That makes total sense. Did you have trauma and ptsd from before your career? Or just like general therapy?

 

[RNrecovery]

That makes total sense. Did you have trauma and ptsd from before your career? Or just like general therapy?

I had trauma as a child/young adult. My work definitely brought its share or trauma but it didn’t tear me apart.

 

[Roland]

I had trauma as a child/young adult. My work definitely brought its share or trauma but it didn’t tear me apart.

That’s awesome