Who Helps You More, Your Therapist Or Psychiatrist Or...?

[Changing4Best]

Who has helped you concerning your PTSD more, or is there someone else entirely? Also, what did they do to help you that stands out in your mind the most?

 

[Friday]

Here.

 

[Sammyiam]

Here, support worker and pyschologist.

 

[sun seeker]

Yes, what @FridayJones said. There's nothing like connecting with people who have been there.

 

[PlainJane]

Hmm. Maybe I will forgo a therpist :) considering the response thus far.

 

[sun seeker]

Face-to-face support groups are good too, though. It's the "been there" element that makes the most difference.

I see a therapist anyway, though. I can use all the support I can get. :)

 

[Ronin]

These days, people here and on the sis site help me immensely.
Psychiatric system and I have been quite a bit of a rocky road. Not bumps I'm grateful for. Mostly it moved me to retreating back to systems of help I was used to before that: people dear to me, alternative ways of viewing illnesses, looking for groups that are solutions focused. One area of problems a time.
All in all, people who are in it to win it and not just win $$s have been helpful in my journeying.

 

[moonbeam]

Ooh that's difficult. I think in order.

My best friend J. He has PTSD from combat trauma but also had an abusive childhood. He helps me the most.

The Forum.

My psychotherapist is awesome.

my psychiatric consultant is meh. She sees me once every year (6 months if I want) for an hour and tells me to keep taking the meds I haven't taken in over 6 months. And to keep on keeping on.

 

[Ronin]

@moonbeam, it sounds your psychiatric consultant and my long line of psychiatrists went to the same school. :D I shouldn't find this as funny in an absurd way as I do yet here I am. (More at myself funny, not laughing about your situation, but I adore the way you've put it.)

 

[Seasounds]

This forum, having support from people who understand, has been a huge help!

And recently, (last 4years)I like my psychoanalytic psychiatrist, because unlike therapists, he empathetically listens to, and reflects back to me, and thereby gives me the space to put the pieces of the puzzle together by myself. It is very empowering. I'm learning 'social and emotional intelligence', that I never got to develop as a child.

I have greatly benefited from a variety of therapists and their tools.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

@Jane1991

I think that maybe you're taking the responses out of context? I think that you'd be hard pressed to find someone who has had endured quite a bit of suffering due to PTSD and has been able to heal without therapy at all.

That is, processing on your own.....NOT possible for those of us severe enough to be diagnosed with PTSD. This is the one thing that a therapist is essential for.

The responses are what has helped you the most and doesn't mean to insinuate that one single modality is all that you need for healing. I don't think anyone can use one way to truly heal. That is, many of us who are farther along in our healing have used a number of things to heal.

Would I be where I am today without my therapists (collectively)? No.
Would I be where I am today without my psychiatrists (collectively)? No.
Would I be where I am today without this forum? No.
Would I be where I am today without my family? No.
Would I be where I am today without the trauma hospital? No.
Would I be where I am today without intensive trauma therapy (outpatient program)? No.

Now, what has helped me most? I have no idea. I know this forum has been the only constant over the years (save my few vacations) in terms of treatment. (I don't consider family to be "treatment".) So, yes, this forum is definitely near the top. Its hard to rank.

 

[Underdog]

For me, it's been my psychoanalyst, psychiatrist and this forum. They've all served different roles.

My psychoanalyst has helped me to start reaching some of the core issues that I would never have found on my own. The psychiatrist is only concerned about treating the symptoms as opposed to the root causes, but the meds make life a bit easier. This forum has helped me to recognize things as they are and to realize I'm not alone in this fight.