I hear the arguments for long term solution.... but how long does it take?
Difficult to answer - it depends. We're all different, and we all have different levels of trauma / number of different trauma's. It's impossible to give any sort of definitive answer.
Other things to take into consideration, if you are about to embark on trauma therapy is how stable your life is? That's if you are in employment, will you be able to cope with work and therapy? If you don't work, are you able to financially support your self? Do you have real life support? If you have family commitments, can they cope if you are not 'there' for them emotionally?
Essentially, for therapy to be as successful as possible, your life needs to be as stress free as possible. Therapy is incredibly difficult, and you will need everything else in your life to be as stable as possible, to reduce your stress levels. You also need to accept that the going will be tough, and resolve to not do anything to silly during hard times. You kind of have to resolve to weather storms, and put faith in the fact that no matter how hard therapy is - you will feel better in the end.
My biggest regret is that I didn't understand that. I was so scared of therapy. I was scared to bring all those emotions out, because I didn't understand that I would have to do that in order to reduce the emotions surrounding my trauma. It's tough - no getting away from it - but it's the only way you can ever begin to move forwards. Drowning your emotions in drugs or drink isn't a long term solution and will only lead to more problems in the long run.
Prescribed medication does have it's place - in that you might need to keep your anxiety in check in order to proceed with therapy, but there is a limit. If PTSD is your sole issue, then any amount of anti-anxiety meds, or anti-depressants aren't going to solve your problems long term and may just add a dependency issue (with benzo's) into the mix.
How long does it take? I have one trauma that caused my PTSD. Being raped many times over by a stranger at knife point over a period of about 2 hours. I had 2 hours of trauma therapy (with a specialist in sexual assault) per week for a year. I had multiple low points in that time. I also tried to take my life several times during the process. I had support, but I also had employment and financial worries during that time. Maybe without those issues, and a better understanding of the therapy process, it might not have taken me so long. But we are all individuals, and it takes as long as it takes. The bigger your commitment and understanding of the process, likely, the less time needed.
