Hello You All! Huge Thanks.

[Nam]

Just wanted to stop by and see how all of you are doing. Boy has the forum changed. I need to read up on a few friends here. I think life has slowed enough for me to contribute a bit more here.

So it's been 10 years since I was diagnosed. My therapist told me that healing time averages between 6-10 years. Even though I only did therapy for a short year and half, it took me exactly 10 years to come full circle. Not be what I was, but better.

The one thing that I couldn't make myself do was get back into art. It literally touched the area that hurt. The part that just wouldn't scab over. This past March, I made the jump. Doing drawings realistically helped me separate the emotions and concentrate on technique. I'm still in that phase but I've started thinking about what I really need to express. Oil paint is my medium of choice now. I hope to continue.

Sometimes the ugly can really turn into something beautiful.

 

[Tinyflame]

:) :tup:

:hug: for you @Nam.

 

[Seagreen]

That's great and so inspiring ( :

 

[tude]

Thanks for sharing, it gives me hope. 10 years, eh? It's been almost eight, I think.

 

[Nam]

I found the forum late. I joined in June of 2006. My diagnosis was in 2004. It seems like a life time ago. There is hope. Even though a lot of PTSD is about how we feel, so much of it is actual physical things. I still have moments where I get those adrenalin dumps like I'm going into a panic, but the negative feelings associated with it are gone. So even though my heart is pumping, my hands get clammy, and even my face gets prickly, it feels more like the excitement before performing or meeting a friend you haven't seen in a while. It's a new different. I think it's rewiring. It's making myself accept those physical responses but trying to associate them with positive things. I really think it can be done. Rewire the brain or myelinate alternate pathways. Life will always throw stress at us. We just have to respond better. I can tell people a version of my history without setting me back a few days. It's quite refreshing.