Sufferer How Can I Effectively Treat My Ptsd

[GreatBike]

Hello, I'm new at the forum.

My PTSD relates primarily to crime victimization and few other things down the road.

1. How can I effectively treat PTSD if my work environment prevents me from getting better? High level of stress, micro-management, etc.

2. Do I need to change careers and find me a job in a company that offers lawn care and landscaping service?

3. How can I interview a therapist? With no knowledge, I have interviewed few therapists that I found on my health insurance web site and they don't seem to be familiarized with PTSD even though they say they do.

Thanks in advanced,

GreatBike

 

[intothelight]

Hi @GreatBike Welcome to the forum!

You might want to check out this thread as it does a really good job of explaining how stress affects PTSD.

https://www.myptsd.com/threads/the-ptsd-cup-explanation.13737/#post-173960

Since your job is stressful, you may want to check out different areas in your life where you can reduce the stress. Also, changing jobs is not a bad idea, but depending a lot will depend on where you live and what the market is like, that is not really a question that anyone here can answer. Check out job openings to see how many are available around you and if there are professional associations or publications, they may be a good source of information. Also, if you have connections in the field do a bit of networking.

Interviewing a therapist is a great idea. Check out some of the articles and threads about therapy on this site and that may help you in your process.

 

[Justmehere]

Hi GreatBike

Welcome to the forums!

It sounds like PTSD or not, you feel pretty unhappy about your job. If you can find another job that is more appealing to you, and the negative downsides are not too bad, then switching to a new job might be a great idea. First step would be to find that job.

Even with a stressful job, you still can heal from PTSD. The first step in most PTSD treatment techniques is to learn a lot of coping and stress reducing skills like mindfulness and grounding techniques. These skills have saved my life and been so valuable to me. There are a lot of workbooks listed on this thread that people have found helpful for PTSD symptoms: https://www.myptsd.com/threads/recommend-books-or-and-workbook.40466/ Workbooks are not a replacement for therapy, but they are a great tool that can help speed up recovery and get a start on things until you can find the right therapist.

You can also ask for reasonable accommodations and job modifications from your company that would help reduce stress levels.

As far as finding a therapist, does the provider who diagnosed you with PTSD have any suggestions? What makes you feel like the providers you have talked to are not really familiar with PTSD?

Finding a good trauma therapist is very helpful and sometimes can take a bit of work. It might work better to ask if therapists use specific techniques of treating PTSD rather than if they treat PTSD. i.e. searching for providers who use EMDR, trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy, DBT, somatic experiencing, or other trauma based treatment techniques. If providers are using any of those treatment techniques then they have extra training and experience on how to handle PTSD and trauma.

 

[GreatBike]

Thanks to both of you (intothelight and justmehere) for the information.

Under which category your ptsd falls into: war combat, car accident, victim of crime?

The reason I'm unhappy about my job is not because what I do but because the work environment. My employer knows that I was a victim of crime even though I have not told anyone. So how do they know if it's private information? Well, there is not such thing as private information these days. Let me put it in simple terms, word of mouth and gossip.

I cannot ask for reasonable accommodations and job modifications because is not a hotel. Is easier for a company to make it more difficult to the employee in terms of work environment and have him leave the job voluntarily so they don't pay unemployment. That way they can hire someone perhaps younger that can be overworked. That's excatly what is happening now.

To be diagnosed with PTSD you need to know first that there is something wrong with yourself.

I have PTSD because of the following avoidance and hyper-arousal symptoms:

Staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of the experience
Feeling emotionally numb
Feeling strong guilt, depression, or worry
Losing interest in activities that were enjoyable in the past
Being easily startled
Feeling tense or “on edge”
Having difficulty sleeping, and/or having angry outbursts

When I asked some of the therapists during the interview process for some examples of ptsd patients they have treated, they come back with vague answers.

Now, with the information I got from this post I can ask providers if they use EMDR, trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy, DBT, somatic experiencing, or other trauma based treatment techniques.

I will do some research on those techniques and prepare other questions..

Thanks again,

GreatBike

 

[GreatBike]

This is a correction to my previous post. The following is a more clear list of the ptsd symptoms I have and the ptsd symptoms that I don't have:

PTSD symptoms I have:

Feelings of intense distress when reminded of the trauma ( This the most difficult one for me because it happens a lot in the work environment. I feel disrespected )
Intense physical reactions to reminders of the event like pounding heart, rapid breathing, nausea, muscle tension, sweating ( My reaction is rapid breathing )
Difficulty falling or staying asleep ( On and off )
Anger and irritability ( My anger comes from knowing or thinking that people are trying to remind me of the trauma )
Guilt, shame, or self-blame ( On and off )
Feelings of mistrust and betrayal ( This is very heavy on me )
Depression and hopelessness ( I try to do a lot of exercise for this symptom )
Feeling alienated and alone ( All the time )

PTSD symptoms I Don't have:

Substance abuse
Physical aches and pains
Suicidal thoughts and feelings
Hypervigilance on constant “red alert”
Feeling jumpy and easily startled (I usually consume my feelings causing my high blood pressure go wild)
Intrusive, upsetting memories of the event
Flashbacks. Acting or feeling like the event is happening again
Nightmares. Either of the event or of other frightening things

 

[Justmehere]

Thanks to both of you (intothelight and justmehere) for the information.

Under which category your ptsd falls into: war combat, car accident, victim of crime?

I have survived multiple kinds of trauma including complex trauma, childhood trauma, adult trauma, physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, car accidents, a natural disaster, an assault as an adult...

To be diagnosed with PTSD you need to know first that there is something wrong with yourself.

Actually, people get diagnosed with mental health conditions all the time with no awareness of the condition or problem. Denial can be very strong. But, in order to ask for help and in order to get better - someone does have to know something is wrong and I think you have a lot of great insight and self awareness already!

It does sound like you have some of the symptoms of PTSD for sure. It looks like you are doing a lot of good research to empower yourself to get better. That's great! I would only add that it's best to avoid self diagnosis and confirm what's going on with a professional. From what you write, I think you may struggle with more symptoms than you are yet aware of. Maybe not - either way, it's very ok. Treatment will help! When I first started treatment I only thought I had been through one real "trauma" and had only 2-3 symptoms of PTSD that was impacting my life. As I began to work on everything, my denial changed and I realized how much I really was struggling with a lot more symptoms than I realized at first. It's what happened for me. Your experience could very well be very different.

I cannot ask for reasonable accommodations and job modifications because is not a hotel. Is easier for a company to make it more difficult to the employee in terms of work environment and have him leave the job voluntarily so they don't pay unemployment. That way they can hire someone perhaps younger that can be overworked. That's excatly what is happening now.

You can ask for accommodations for ANY job - hotel or not. If they already know you have survived serious trauma, it might actually help them and you to know what is going on for you now because of it. Going on record, in your words, backed up by a professional, that you have disability, it often makes them much more careful in firing people, because they don't want to get sued for discrimination. I do respect your decision to not ask for accommodations right now. I think the most important thing to focus on right now in getting better is to get into treatment.

When I asked some of the therapists during the interview process for some examples of ptsd patients they have treated, they come back with vague answers.

Yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense they would be vague about examples. They have to be vague by law, so that way they protect the privacy of the patients and make sure they don't reveal even the smallest identifying detail about the person. Its a good question to ask and it is great that you are seeking to be an informed client. I think if you focus on what techniques do they use to treat trauma, even your specific kind of trauma, you might get a lot more information back. Or if you ask them to help you understand how trauma can affect people, they should be able to talk very specifically about it and show you how much they know that way. I also encourage you to pick someone and try an initial session in person.

 

[GreatBike]

I really appreciate your time with your replies. Thanks.

Actually, people get diagnosed with mental health conditions all the time with no awareness of the condition or problem. Denial can be very strong.

Yes, I'm scheduled to see a therapist on Monday. I spoke with him this morning over the phone. Hopefully, it will be a successful (fingers crossed) meeting.

You can ask for accommodations for ANY job - hotel or not. If they already know you have survived serious trauma, it might actually help them and you to know what is going on for you now because of it. Going on record, in your words, backed up by a professional, that you have disability, it often makes them much more careful in firing people, because they don't want to get sued for discrimination.

I noticed on your profile you are from USA. I thought you were from Europe or Australia when you said accommodations. :) Unfortunately, what you are saying is not what I have seen in my 16 years of career. Reminder, my ptsd symptoms started to heavily kick in 4 years ago. I currently work for a family owned business that has less than 40 employees. I've been working for them for approximately 10 months. By law, they might have something related to disability on their handbook but all companies from time to time don't follow the law for their greater good. If I go to HR and ask for accommodations they will definitely NOT laugh at my face. This is what they will do, they will finish the conversation with me and when I'm not around they will go to the owner of the company "the client, the one that pays money to HR" and tell the owner what I said. The owner will then have a meeting with management and start little by little have management do everything possible so I voluntarily quit my job. I'm telling you this because I've seen this happened on my face with other employees at other companies. What I'm telling you is not from a book or article, is from life experience.

When you say accommodations what do you exactly mean? This employer will not let me work from home or change my desk because I need to be with the rest of the people in the department. They will not removed me from the oncall-rotation. They will not hire more people in my department knowing they are under staffed because they rather have us do the oncall-rotation so they can meet their numbers. This employer prefers to overwork employees because it's for the greater good of the company $$. This is Corporate America, the land of the free. I know, I made a mistake taking this job and now I need to play Clint Eastwood on "Escape from Alcatraz".

Yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense they would be vague about examples. They have to be vague by law, so that way they protect the privacy of the patients and make sure they don't reveal even the smallest identifying detail about the person. Its a good question to ask and it is great that you are seeking to be an informed client.

Hopefully this coming Monday will help me to turn the page on this chapter of my life.

Thanks again for your time and assistance.

 

[ghotiff]

Welcome, and good luck for Monday.