Friday
Moderator
I organise my life differently, than you do @rusty_maestro
I have 2 broadly defined areas “doing well” & “doing badly” in regards to PTSD, and then each of those areas has a fairly broad spectrum of how-well & how-badly. I can be doing waaaaaaaay better... which is certainly cause for celebration, and still be doing quite badly. Doing better doesn’t mean I’m doing well.
Same token? I can have bad days when I’m doing well, and good days when I’m doing badly. Or moments. Or episodes. None of which changes which side of the equation I’m operating out of.
Whilst that can sometimes be difficult to quantify in a psych sense? I’ve also had some times in my life that I’m profoundly sick or injured. Having a great day, or even doing quite well? Doesn’t mean that I’m not still sick/injured. It means that I’m not having 3 heart attacks in the hallway of the hospital just trying to walk 10 feet, (like I will tomorrow, and did two weeks prior) but actually manage a whole loop around the nurses desk unaided. After having slowly worked my way up to it, after my last misadventure. That I’m fishing out on the floor tomorrow, surrounded by staff & a crash cart? Doesn’t mean that I’m not doing sooooo much better than I was 3 months ago, when I was flown in. My progress is actually brilliant. But there still both expected and surprise setbacks that crop up. Doing brilliantly, medically speaking? Doesn’t mean I’m even in the same universe as when I could hike 1500 miles carrying 80kg. It’s very much a relative state of affairs. (I DID get back into that level of physical conditioning, by the by. Took about 2 years. Roughly 6mo under medical supervision.) The first time my care was downgraded took a few weeks, until I was stable enough to be moved/flown to a specialist center. But doing so much better didn’t mean I was well, even if I was doing really really well, to not die on them. And on, and on. Each time my care level changed, because I was doing so much better? Didn’t mean I was actually better. I’d simply entered a new level of less f*cked up.
Somewhere on the site I have a few running lists of when I’m doing well -vs- when I’m doing badly. They were super important to me in the beginning / when I first came here, because I was moving very swiftly from one end of the spectrum to the other... and I needed Mile-Markers. Things to help me figure out where I was, where I was heading, and how to get back. Those lists will probably become important to me, again, once I start moving again.
To be clear... I’m not saying that the way I organize my life is any sort of standard for anyone else to apply. It’s just my own thing. Which is different from yours, is all.
I have 2 broadly defined areas “doing well” & “doing badly” in regards to PTSD, and then each of those areas has a fairly broad spectrum of how-well & how-badly. I can be doing waaaaaaaay better... which is certainly cause for celebration, and still be doing quite badly. Doing better doesn’t mean I’m doing well.
Same token? I can have bad days when I’m doing well, and good days when I’m doing badly. Or moments. Or episodes. None of which changes which side of the equation I’m operating out of.
Whilst that can sometimes be difficult to quantify in a psych sense? I’ve also had some times in my life that I’m profoundly sick or injured. Having a great day, or even doing quite well? Doesn’t mean that I’m not still sick/injured. It means that I’m not having 3 heart attacks in the hallway of the hospital just trying to walk 10 feet, (like I will tomorrow, and did two weeks prior) but actually manage a whole loop around the nurses desk unaided. After having slowly worked my way up to it, after my last misadventure. That I’m fishing out on the floor tomorrow, surrounded by staff & a crash cart? Doesn’t mean that I’m not doing sooooo much better than I was 3 months ago, when I was flown in. My progress is actually brilliant. But there still both expected and surprise setbacks that crop up. Doing brilliantly, medically speaking? Doesn’t mean I’m even in the same universe as when I could hike 1500 miles carrying 80kg. It’s very much a relative state of affairs. (I DID get back into that level of physical conditioning, by the by. Took about 2 years. Roughly 6mo under medical supervision.) The first time my care was downgraded took a few weeks, until I was stable enough to be moved/flown to a specialist center. But doing so much better didn’t mean I was well, even if I was doing really really well, to not die on them. And on, and on. Each time my care level changed, because I was doing so much better? Didn’t mean I was actually better. I’d simply entered a new level of less f*cked up.
Somewhere on the site I have a few running lists of when I’m doing well -vs- when I’m doing badly. They were super important to me in the beginning / when I first came here, because I was moving very swiftly from one end of the spectrum to the other... and I needed Mile-Markers. Things to help me figure out where I was, where I was heading, and how to get back. Those lists will probably become important to me, again, once I start moving again.
To be clear... I’m not saying that the way I organize my life is any sort of standard for anyone else to apply. It’s just my own thing. Which is different from yours, is all.