Funniest Anger Moment

[Jimmy1]

Hey NFH, IMO, the reason they are trying to shove the you in with people who have been raped is most likely because of the value of the dollar; however, there is not variation in the symptoms. Maybe Anthony could shed some more light on that one.

Another interesting point is that the head of the PTSD unit here, told me one day that a lot of the veterans that go through the unit with PTSD, don't only have PTSD from combat, they have PTSD from childhood events.

Just thought it might be interesting.

Jimmy

 

[willis williams]

The PTSD from childhood I have read articles about people that are predisposed to have PTSD. It can come from a parent that suffers or a childhood trauma that was supressed. There were a lot of examples I can't remember the author but it was based on x amount of people that had combat ptsd mainly targeting the children of the vietnam era vets and I don't remember the % but it was significantly higher in vets whos parent had PTSD. They claim it is a partialy learned behavior. I don't know if there is any merit to it because my dad has PTSD and I have no idea if I would have not gotten PTSD if he would have been differant. I actually had Dr.s and chemical dependancy councelors at the VA tell me the same stuff. So that makes me believe even less.

 

[No Folded Hands]

Hmm, Jimmy, I am sure the lack of funding has a lot to do with many oddball incidents at VAs all over this country...! I have to disagree with your thought that the symptoms are the same between rape victims and people who've survived near-lethal physical altercation, though. Some of them undoubtedly are, for anyone with PTSD. On the other hand, I just can't relate to anyone who is terrified of everyone of the male gender, and so far that describes the gals I've met. I'd FAR rather change the VA to get all of us good care than to change it to give poor care to male veterans in one building and female veterans in another building, to point out what seems to be the main focus of "being sensitive to the fact that women served too" here.

I've sat in group support with rape vicitms and they made me crazy. I am probably being really harsh, but it wasn't only me --when I walked out another first timer asked me if it seemed to me that this was useless, too. Everyone but the two of us seemed to wallow in what had happened, whether it was a month ago or 30 years ago. No one seemed at all interested in having a better life, addressing any of their symptoms, understanding what was going wrong in their heads...they seemed stuck in a way I could not understand. I have been stuck too, first because I couldn't figure out WHY I didn't seem to be able to fix anything that was going wrong, then and later because I couldn't get any decent help with what was at the bottom of all the sh*t that kept happening. I've given up at times. But these ladies appeared to have accepted not only that they were effed up, but that being effed up and in agony had to be their entire life, for their entire life. My therapy may not work, and I may not get appreciably better, and I may never be able to forget for a moment about arranging things to allow me to do what I want to by finding a way to manage it within the reality of my PTSD...but I will not accept that my entire life IS my PTSD.

 

[Jan-pattern]

Everyone but the two of us seemed to wallow in what had happened, whether it was a month ago or 30 years ago. No one seemed at all interested in having a better life, addressing any of their symptoms, understanding what was going wrong in their heads...they seemed stuck in a way I could not understand. I have been stuck too, first because I couldn't figure out WHY I didn't seem to be able to fix anything that was going wrong, then and later because I couldn't get any decent help with what was at the bottom of all the sh*t that kept happening. I've given up at times. But these ladies appeared to have accepted not only that they were effed up, but that being effed up and in agony had to be their entire life, for their entire life. My therapy may not work, and I may not get appreciably better, and I may never be able to forget for a moment about arranging things to allow me to do what I want to by finding a way to manage it within the reality of my PTSD...but I will not accept that my entire life IS my PTSD.

Good for you!!

Like (as far as I can see) at least 50% of women, I'm in that group too, but for me things changed when I read* about a woman who basically refused to allow the guy, as she put it, to keep on raping her all through the rest of her life.
So on the next anniversary date, she threw a party for her woman friends, laid on pizza and cake and ice-cream and cold beers and they all had a whale of a time celebrating the fact that she was alive and surviving and that he hadn't won! That turned into an annual "hah! up yours, mate! You didn't beat me!" fest, and I just had not thought of seeing it that way. I had been conditioned to believe this was something that would wreck my life forever (yeah, okay, there have been moments when I've had to run away from a perfectly harmless non-aggressive boyfriend because he did something that brought it all back too vividly to ignore) - and the idea that actually the anniversary was a cause for joyful celebration and pride in my achievement... that was mind-blowing...

So you aren't alone... but you're unusual in taking that approach.

So - wanna throw a party?! :)

Jan


*in cosmo magazine, back in the days when it was about living your own life and not being a brain-dead bimbo sheep

 

[No Folded Hands]

HA! I LIKE your comment on cosmo lol! And it's not terribly likely we are geographically near enough to manage it, but aside from that I'd like to say...Name the time and place! ;) I'll bring the microbrew berry beer since I can't stand the taste of hops --and no comments from the peanut gallery about that, either! :D

 

[willis williams]

NFH, I liked your description. The women sound like dry drunks in a way and no offense to any rape victim. I got a DUI and had to attend AA and there were people that had been sober for any number of years and thier lives were so defined bythier alchoholism that they were so misirible in thier whole life. They never moved forward even if it was twenty years and rehashed the same cry baby stories every week blaming everything that happened in thier lives on the fact they drank hard ten years back. So being a self medicator that could quit whenever I want but when I did drink I took it serious I didn't fit with AA. But do understand a little more about your PTSD and I would be curious to hear the responce that a rape victim would say if he or she were to compair thier PTSD to yours. I think in some way we all try very hard to individualize our PTSD as part of the justification of having it. I haven't been in to the new PTSD unit at the Spokane, VA but they sure built a real fancy building for it. I ain't sure if that new building is going to change the way they treat PTSD patients my guess is no. I heard because of the large nuber of casesthey got federal grants to do all the new construction and yet all the mental health staff and most councilers are still in the main building on the 7th floor. Go figure million $ storage unit.

 

[Jimmy1]

Hey Tex, I will put it another way. Think about it like this.
Two people are walking down a dark alley and are chased by two savage dogs. They both get mauled.
The only assistance they get is from the emergency section.

Years down the track one of the people is leading a normal life, yet the other person has anxiety, depression, stress, jumps when a dog barks near them, does not go out in public much, crosses the street whenever a dog is near, and has horror nightmares of dog teeth ripping in to them.

PTSD is PTSD regardless. The proper medical determination with PTSD is that your life has to have been threatened.

I believe the main reason ours is different, is that we were under life threatening situations for a prolonged period of time, i.e. months and sometimes years, and have multiple traumas.

We still have the same symptoms is what I was meant to portray. We are depressed, anxious, stressed, don't socialise, jump at loud noises. This is why there is a PTSD Forum, and a Combat PTSD forum.

Another difference is that us service personal have been conditioned to think different ways therefore we act differently.

Do you understand where I am coming from now???

I do know what you mean though. I belonged to the other PTSD Forum and just could not associate. I had to choose my words carefully. And yes they did seem to bring up the past constantly. But also remember, some of those people don't know where to get help either and might be undiagnosed.

Just my opinion again

Jimmy

 

[willis williams]

Yes I understand I was refering mainly to NFH and her description of being lumped together. I wasn't a typical alchoholic but was forced to attend a group that literaly made me want to drink. I prooved to the judical system that the treatment that they were trying to force on me would not work and got it changed to weekly vet counciling. I'm not sure wich part of my post sounded like it was directed at a post you made I guess I didn't read far enough up or remember all of it but I was thinking of a post about five up by NFH. But what you wrote makes perfect sense.

 

[Jimmy1]

Tex, lmao, having a bad hair day... It was NFH not you dude.... My bad..... I apologise..

I am going to pull my head in here, otherwise I am likely to offend someone.

Jimmy

 

[Jimmy1]

Hmm, Jimmy, I am sure the lack of funding has a lot to do with many oddball incidents at VAs all over this country...! I have to disagree with your thought that the symptoms are the same between rape victims and people who've survived near-lethal physical altercation, though. Some of them undoubtedly are, for anyone with PTSD. On the other hand, I just can't relate to anyone who is terrified of everyone of the male gender, and so far that describes the gals I've met. I'd FAR rather change the VA to get all of us good care than to change it to give poor care to male veterans in one building and female veterans in another building, to point out what seems to be the main focus of "being sensitive to the fact that women served too" here.

I've sat in group support with rape vicitms and they made me crazy. I am probably being really harsh, but it wasn't only me --when I walked out another first timer asked me if it seemed to me that this was useless, too. Everyone but the two of us seemed to wallow in what had happened, whether it was a month ago or 30 years ago. No one seemed at all interested in having a better life, addressing any of their symptoms, understanding what was going wrong in their heads...they seemed stuck in a way I could not understand. I have been stuck too, first because I couldn't figure out WHY I didn't seem to be able to fix anything that was going wrong, then and later because I couldn't get any decent help with what was at the bottom of all the sh*t that kept happening. I've given up at times. But these ladies appeared to have accepted not only that they were effed up, but that being effed up and in agony had to be their entire life, for their entire life. My therapy may not work, and I may not get appreciably better, and I may never be able to forget for a moment about arranging things to allow me to do what I want to by finding a way to manage it within the reality of my PTSD...but I will not accept that my entire life IS my PTSD.

NFH, once again this is my opinion, then again, I could probably say that it is fact.

There is a vast difference between someone with PTSD from a rape, and someone with PTSD from combat. This is fact. Basically it comes down to duration of the event/trauma. A rape, a motor vehicle accident, a tsunami, an attack by a wild animal are all events that usually happen once. Where as someone who is locked up and physically and sexually abused for months and soldiers who have served in a war like environment are similar as their traumas are stretched over a continuous amount of time.
Don't take it the wrong way, they all have PTSD and will exhibit similar PTSD symptoms, but they are different.

Now I am confusing myself. lol.

I understand that you have PTSD, and that symptoms of PTSD are generally the same, but I don't understand how rape related PTSD can be similar to combat related PTSD.

 

[No Folded Hands]

Eh, no worries, I am confused at this point myself! I read your last post as saying two completely different things at once, a surefire sign that I've lost the thread of discussion. I think we are agreeing that regardless of original stressor(s) PTSD has common symptoms, but there are also differences. Might be we're not too clear between ourselves on what exactly we're thinking of as differences? Anyway, not meaning to start a fight or offend/piss off anyone either, or even hijack this thread!! Guess I'll let it percolate through the fractured brain processes a while and check if I get it better then. :)

 

[willis williams]

Now I'm totally confused but it is interesting and educational. Wow Jimmy that one had me reading up and down trying to figure out what I wrote and allready took mourning meds I must have looked like a crazier person then normal sitting infront of the comp. I think it is like I was very curious with NFH at the beginning because I was concerned about the differances in our PTSD. I don't know how PTSD effects anyone but me. I know that we share common symptoms. I also agree in the very extreme differances in combat verses others. Now a military person attacked or raped in most cases has the same conditioning as every other soldier so to me it would almost be like loosing a firefight that may have only lasted an hour or so. There probably have been lots of soldiers hit with in the first minutes in country look at D-Day and after that exprience there was probably a lot of PTSD. So with conditioning the duration of the causing insident I am still not sure of the signifecance. I see that in rape and attack victims there sems to be a lot of talk of helplesness hell the first part of time in country I felt pretty helpless until my cherry was popped by a mortar, and then a sniper that was 6 in low and hit the sand bag center mass square in front of me I still have the 30 cal. bullit that the bag caught. So I am still really confused about the hole line that differenchiats certain PTSD from combat PTSD. Most are very easy to astablish the differances but one can always be suprised. NFH you aren't hijacking anything this discussing is a way of learning and god know when we stop doing that we might as well be dead. Keep up the good fight and like you said I think most of use are on the same sheet of music we are just playing differant insterment. TEX