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"most people recover from ptsd"...

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Stephernovas

MyPTSD Pro
During a recent phone call with WSIB (worker's comp), the psych team spoke with my therapist and completed their own assessment of me. They allowed for more treatments of therapy sessions for PTSD. They nurse case manager I was speaking with told me they are all labelled 'temporary allowances', as the goal is the individual gets better. Then she continued on to say, "most people recover from PTSD, but the length of time it takes varies". I told her hearing the term 'temporary' made me nervous thinking of the potential risk that they could/might pull this treatment well before I was ready.

I'm curious to get some feedback on this, as I've previously read articles about the debate if people truly 'recover/get better' from PTSD, or we just get better at managing it through each day. Thoughts?
 
recover/get better' from PTSD, or we just get better at managing it through each day. Thoughts?

As I have experienced developmental trauma I never experienced a PTSD free phase. How can an individual who suffered trauma from a very early age know what healed means? This is probably a very subjective issue...but I am interested to read others views on this. @Stephernovas, thanks
 
Most people do have full remission of PTSD symptoms. They’ll be at risk for them coming back again with new trauma and/or stress.

It’s only a subset of people that have active PTSD symptoms thatvlast a long time.

Post-traumatic stress disorder shows substantial natural recovery in the initial months and years after a traumatic event. Whereas a high proportion of trauma survivors will initially develop symptoms of PTSD, a substantial proportion of these individuals recover without treatment in the following years, with a steep decline in PTSD rates occurring in the first year (e.g. Breslau et al, 1991; Kessler et al, 1995). On the other hand, at least a third of the individuals who initially develop PTSD remain symptomatic for 3 years or longer, and are at risk of secondary problems such as substance misuse (e.g. Kessler et al, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56506/#!po=0.520833
 
@Justmehere that's from 1995 - I think back then they did think people recovered.

I think now the diagnosis is that ptsd is lifelong because it physically changes the structure of your brain. Now they say it runs in cycles and the goal is to lessen the impact by reducing the emotion/memory response and teach coping skills for when it pops up.

Of course next year they may have a whole different idea -- gotta love brain stuff....
 
The way I see it, is that I'm not the same. At all. It's been just over 8 mos. post crash for me, and I still feel like I'm in square one. Minus a few physical symptoms, and the lessening degree of my concussive symptoms, I feel like all my trauma just happened last week. Sitting here writing this and thinking about everything has me nervous. I have a new (and great) physiotherapist working with me, but she's been a little pushy with me mentally so I'm a bit more sensitive than usual as she's pushing me into some pretty big triggers. Her heart is in the right place, but I feel like she's the type of person who won't understand how much of an impact this trauma (and therefore PTSD) has had on my life, until she witnesses what it does to me. I bring her up, because she recently told me she does not want to see all of this take a year, 2 or even 3 of normalcy from my life. I don't know how to explain that it's not up to her to decide that. Then I get this call from WSIB telling me that 'most people get better'..lol okay. I'm pretty damn sick of people telling me what to do and what's best for me. I feel I've been pushed a bit too much recently, and now the PTSD in me is retaliating back by pushing everyone away - and, personally I think rightfully so.

It seems to me that once people see an individual behaving like the rest of society, they deem that person as recovered, or in recovery. However, for me, I am not feeling like there's a degree to which I'm 80% , 50%, or 22% (or whatever percent) clear from PTSD as time goes on. I find there are some days where I'm symptomatic (like 100% or whatever), and other days where it's less so. That goes for my physical symptoms as well. Since I switched physio's I've been feeling a bunch better and more optimistic, but now that this physio is pushing me into things (and has continually made comments for me about returning to work (she believes the sense of normalcy will help me recover more efficiently) - huge trigger for me - my therapist realizes and told WISB that needs to be my decision and it is unhelpful to harass me about it). Maybe this is just the part of PTSD that people don't get. Maybe for a while we're doing okay, but a single (or maybe multiple) triggers sneak up and we tailspin back to a place where all we can do is focus on pulling ourselves back together. I feel like that's true PTSD, but people confuse calm periods as recovery.

To me, it's always there (which is nerve-racking in and of itself because it can rear it's head whenever it chooses - almost like a headache - you can backtrack to what lead to the headache but you don't always feel it coming), and it's how well someone has been able to manage it that increases their quality of life when we're feeling good. It's not enough for society to allow us to have the diagnosis, but I feel like we're always having to advocate for ourselves that it truly impacts our lives on a daily basis so we have to always advocate for ourselves and the needs that PTSD makes us have more so than the 'average person'.

EDIT to add: If I'm honest with you all (and it makes sense as to why), but I can literally feel that my brain has changed. I DO NOT think the same as before. Hypervigilence is always there, thinking about how terrible simple fun events that friends and family engage in could turn out to be. A guy I know was talking about snowmobiling, and all I could do was feel nervous that he would one day crash and hurt himself. The way I learn and process the world has totally changed from that day for me. I know I've had trauma as a youth, and then trauma from my career as a social worker, and now this...it all adds up to compounded trauma. I was totally managing fine, until the last big trauma where PTSD cranked up any symptoms to severe. I never used to panic (hyperventilating and all) until after the day of the crash. Physio commented about me having trauma from childhood so that's from previous stuff and yes it brought everything to for forefront, but somehow that means I should be able to return to work sooner? lol No. If anything that screws me over harder. I don't think true recovery is possible. I think it's building a life where you comfortably grow to be okay with what's happened and defeat these demons at your own pace. No expectations, no 'you should's', and no pushing into things your aren't ready for.
 
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PTSD isn’t curable and you don’t recover from it. You treat the symptoms, you deal with the trauma, but PTSD is the gift that keeps on giving. You will always have it, but it will wax and wane, come and go. You will feel good and then the shit will hit the fan and you’ll be a suicidal maniac again filled with anxiety and depression. Then the merry go round will start again....
 
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