How Treatable Is Ptsd?

[Kolten]

I think with the right therapist any trauma can be desensitized some. I am not sure if cured is the right word to use here but not denoting it. I am currently in exposure therapy and I know it seems to create anxiety but it also makes me feel better when done in session. I think each week things get better. Its a slow process. Don't give up on therapy if ur in it. I think there's always ways to help us if we are willing to believe and have faith in it.

 

[Hush92]

So how treatable is PTSD? Does it depend on the trauma, duration, or person and their circumstances? I...

Yes it does depend on all of those things. Through a combination of several years of therapy, medication and self-work I managed to greatly reduce and even eliminate most of my symptoms. Please note that it gets WORSE before you get better, especially when you are dealing with accepting the trauma and revisiting it/discussing it in therapy. But it DOES get better.

 

[EveHarrington]

The diabetes and pregnancy is a really good example and points to some things that are missing in my re...

But if you were cured then you would be able to be a type A burn the candle at both ends kind of person, right?

In your diabetes example, people still need to eat properly and exercise when they go into remission because they are more suceptible to a relapse. PTSD is the same. This is by definition not a cure.

A cure is like "I had AIDS but I don't anymore!" It's not like the person has to live a certain lifestyle to make sure the AIDS/HIV doesn't come back. (Fake example but you KWIM)

 

[Sweet_E]

But if you were cured then you would be able to be a type A burn the candle at both ends kind of...

There actually is one documented case of a person who is thought to have been cured of HIV though I have not researched all of the details.

I think a cure for PTSD is exceedingly more possible than HIV, that they are not even in the same ballpark.

Merrian Webster defines cure as : recovery or relief from a disease.

I don't mean to play semantics here. I think I see you your point that a "cure," however you define it, is not a ticket to live your life in a reckless way.

There are people who may have a predisposition to PTSD who are fortunate enough that they have never experienced a trauma that caused them to be triggered into PTSD. But technically, that person does not have PTSD. It is possible that that person will never develop PTSD.

If someone has completely recovered from PTSD, of course there may be a good chance that they had a predisposition to PTSD to begin with. The good thing is that they are now aware of it, and if they have healed, it likely that they have learned a lot about themselves and they know how to take care of themselves so that it doesn't happen again.

Likewise, many people have genetic dispositions towards a number of diseases but many factors determine if those genes end up expressing themselves as the disease.

If someone wants to believe they are cured or believe they will be cured, I think they might be right and I say let them believe that. Don't take away their hope. Trust that their difficult journey has given them to wisdom to not enter into circumstances or behaviors that could cause them to get PTSD yet again.

Consider these two people:
Person 1: Someone who does not have PTSD and has never had a PTSD triggering event but has the predisposition for PTSD
Person 2: Someone who was diagnosed with PTSD - did a whole lot of hard work, learned a ton of skills along the way, and believes they are now cured.

Both people now experience a traumatic event. Which person is more likely to get PTSD? I don't know that there is an answer. It probably depends on many factors - like the nature of the event, and whether there is access to support. If person #1 got PTSD, you wouldn't say that they always had PTSD.

Likewise, I think it is possible for someone who HAD PTSD to believe they are cured and that they can be correct in that belief, even if they might be more vulnerable to PTSD than someone who does not have that predisposition.

My overall message is that we shouldn't tell people there is a limit on how much they can heal if they want to believe they can cure or heal themselves. That is taking away their hope, and could actually undermine their healing. There are cases where the control group of a study is taking the placebo. However they *think* they are taking the drug and end up getting tangible physical systems of the drug. Our words and thoughts are very powerful. I prefer to err on the side of saying, doing, and thinking things that will promote my healing and the healing of others.

 

[katz]

The diabetes and pregnancy is a really good example and points to some things that are missing in my re...

A very favorite saying that I found - and keep in my phone for reference is :

"Knowing that I require a lifetime of a higher level of self care."

I love reading this to myself when I feel low or in need of some special thoughts for "me".