My PTSD
Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is an anxiety disorder centred around a traumatic event in someone's life. Those with PTSD usually relive distressing events through nightmares and flashbacks, which usually impacts on their daily life. Many people think of PTSD as war related. This can be true but it is not the only cause. Causes of PTSD can include violent assaults (including sexual abuse), serious road accidents and natural disasters.
C-PTSD
Complex PTSD is a severe form of PTSD and usually comes from experiencing severe neglect or repeated abuse in early life.
TREATMENT
There are a few different treatment options for PTSD, depending on the severity of the symptoms.
Cognitive Beahvioural Therapy (CBT) can be used. CBT aims to improve mental wellbeing by helping the person understand their thoughts, behaviours and emotions.
Another treatment for PTSD is Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). EMDR is an interactive psychotherapy technique which is used to relive distress by reliving traumatic events in sessions while the therapist directs your eye movements. It is considered to be the most effective treatment for PTSD.
MY STORY
I have experienced PTSD symptoms for at least four-five years- reliving traumatic childhood events via flashbacks and nightmares. However, my severe symptoms didn't impact my life until after being raped in 2017. During the traumatic event, I experienced dissociation and for a while afterwards. Sometimes, I still have episodes of dissociation. For almost a year after the event, I was in complete denial that it had ever happened, and I locked it away in box pushed to the back of my brain. However, soon I started experiencing vivid flashbacks- my first severe experience being while I was hospitalised. The sad thing is, the staff didn't know how to deal with it and just told me to sit down for a while, which I couldn't do. Soon after this, I started experiencing the flashbacks daily, and they were impacting my life substantially. This continued until the present day. Before I was discharged from mental health services, I wasn't offered any treatment for my PTSD, which was rather annoying.
For the past four nights, I've experienced nightmares and flashbacks. It's starting to impact my sleep and my daily living. I'm seriously struggling with motivation during the day and experiencing quite severe fatigue, too. I have took a step in helping myself, though. I'm seeing my doctor next week to discuss my mental health. It may be a case of referring me back to mental health services for treatment, which really doesn't bother me because I just want to feel myself again.
Leigh
C-PTSD
Complex PTSD is a severe form of PTSD and usually comes from experiencing severe neglect or repeated abuse in early life.
TREATMENT
There are a few different treatment options for PTSD, depending on the severity of the symptoms.
Cognitive Beahvioural Therapy (CBT) can be used. CBT aims to improve mental wellbeing by helping the person understand their thoughts, behaviours and emotions.
Another treatment for PTSD is Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). EMDR is an interactive psychotherapy technique which is used to relive distress by reliving traumatic events in sessions while the therapist directs your eye movements. It is considered to be the most effective treatment for PTSD.
MY STORY
I have experienced PTSD symptoms for at least four-five years- reliving traumatic childhood events via flashbacks and nightmares. However, my severe symptoms didn't impact my life until after being raped in 2017. During the traumatic event, I experienced dissociation and for a while afterwards. Sometimes, I still have episodes of dissociation. For almost a year after the event, I was in complete denial that it had ever happened, and I locked it away in box pushed to the back of my brain. However, soon I started experiencing vivid flashbacks- my first severe experience being while I was hospitalised. The sad thing is, the staff didn't know how to deal with it and just told me to sit down for a while, which I couldn't do. Soon after this, I started experiencing the flashbacks daily, and they were impacting my life substantially. This continued until the present day. Before I was discharged from mental health services, I wasn't offered any treatment for my PTSD, which was rather annoying.
For the past four nights, I've experienced nightmares and flashbacks. It's starting to impact my sleep and my daily living. I'm seriously struggling with motivation during the day and experiencing quite severe fatigue, too. I have took a step in helping myself, though. I'm seeing my doctor next week to discuss my mental health. It may be a case of referring me back to mental health services for treatment, which really doesn't bother me because I just want to feel myself again.
Leigh
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