General Husband has ptsd - army vet - help beyond counseling?

[IceQueencop]

Group therapy for vets is said to be especially helpful. I go to group therapy with other cops, it’s helpful to know you are not the only one going through what you’re going through. Vets and cops bond with other vets and cops because of shared similar experiences and being able to bond over the PTSD experiences makes you feel less alone. I can’t talk to my SO about what I’m dealing with because it scares him, but I can talk to others in the group. It’s more helpful in some ways than one on one therapy because most therapists can’t totally relate, and even if they could, they are only one person. Sometimes getting your therapist to understand what your going through is a battle in itself, partly because they aren’t dealing with it themselves. But, in group therapy, somebody else may complain of something, and I can totally
relate to what they are going through, even if I didn’t realize it is part of PTSD.

I’m not a big drinker, but from friends that are, it makes the PTSD symptoms worse. More paranoia and irritability definitely.

With PTSD, nothing gets filtered out of your senses, and taking in all of that sensory information is exhausting. So, the eyes glaze and the body just gets ready to fight. I have times when I literally can’t hear anything because I’m just exhausted. Those are times when touching me is not a good idea, I’m keyed up for a fight.

You can help by making sure your husband has down time, that you don’t have the tv and radio on while you’re doing anything else. It sounds really benign, but trying to talk to me while the tv or radio on is a surefire way to get me to bite your head off. It’s just too much. Similarly, don’t plan to go from one event straight to the next, maybe one event a day or even a week. Encourage down time and encourage exercise.

Encourage him to keep going, it gets better.

 

[Freida]

e VA is now trying out a drug just for PTSD that is supposed to block the trauma

There is a study going on for MMDA (ecstasy) for use with ptsd. I think its in phase 3 and it looks like it's a cure you or kill you kind of thing. Some people have great results and some have become psychotic. And no....you never want to be the guina pig for the VA. Let whatever it is go through a couple rounds before he tries it.

I know there was a drug they had used for a while that blocked the trauma but it backfired horribly. It eliminated the memories but kept the reactions. So the people who used it had no idea why they were feeling the way they were feeling and why they had PTSD reactions.

Finding a magic pill is the holy grail for the VA -- but so far they haven't found anything that will replace digging it up and dealing with it. And yep -- that sucks.