When I am lost in hopelessness I definitely do think that way. I think 'just because I lived 12 years in-between bouts of PTSD, doesn't mean iI will overcome it this time, I will ALWASY be stuck like this, I'll NEVER get my mental health back!'.
As others have said - we have different symptoms, as well as different strengths and support systems. I don't think there is a blanket outcome for all sufferers of PTSD, as we all have different journeys.
I am in the camp of 'it is possible to live a life free of PTSD'. I also believe that some people might have it in their lives to varying extents, for long periods in their lives. I know there are some people who might always struggle with managing the PTSD. But I also think it is possible to not have PTSD in your life for long periods of time, and that some people will fully recover from it.
My own journey saw me in intensive therapy from ages 17- my late 20's. Then I lived 12 years free of PTSD. I had no dissociation, no flashbacks, no symptoms of it at all in those 12 years. It did not mean I was a perfect person without issues to still deal with, but tyne PTSD part was gone. I did not see myself as 'mentally ill' in those years. I faced periods of intense stress, but was able to cope with, and handle it in healthier ways than the average person (who had never had mental health issues). In those years, I graduated twice (university), moved cities, began a professional career, bought my first house, faced intense work stress, and my father was dying, and did die, from cancer. None of those usual life stresses triggered PTSD symptoms. But a series of strong earthquakes did. Interestingly, it wasn't the first out the blue large quake :O_o:.
The first one hit 4:30am, was a 7.1, caused significant damage across my city, cut power, threatened water, food and petrol supplies, and triggered thousands of aftershocks. Literally I got shaken out of bed, ran of the doorway, flicked the lights on only for them to black ou a second later, and trying to hold onto my doorway as my house - and I am not kidding here - moved almost 2 feet in every direction! And immediately, ongoing aftershocks that meant for the first few hours, there was just minutes in-between them. Talk about terrifying! It was a pretty traumatic time for everyone in my city of half a million people; but at that time, I managed to cope pretty well. It wasn't until the next very large, (and fatal) quake 5 months later, that I developed PTSD symptoms for the first time in over a decade. I had both earthquake PTSD (although an official diagnosis was almost impossible to make because PTSD isn't diagnosed until 3/6 months after the trauma, and the ongoing aftershocks meant that although I spent 18 months with PTSD typo symptoms related to the quake, there wasn't a period of 3/6 months without ongoing large aftershocks in that entire time, which be differentiate 'ongoing stress trauma' and PTSD! :eek:) and then PTSD related to childhood trauma. The latter I am still experiencing.
Sometimes I lose hope and think 'this time I wont be lucky enough to fully recover' but then on my better days / weeks, I totally believe it will again be possible for me to live free of being triggered into dissociation / have flashbacks. It will just take time, and who knows how long that will be.
Never give up hope, is all I can say.:)
