ptsd ?

[capricorn]

When I was tested I spent almost 8 hours with a Dr. who was very experienced with PTSD. For a fact he closed his private practice and became the Director of Psychology at our VA. I spent 4 years with him. He did the testing because through our counseling sessions he started to notice a pattern that fits PTSD patients. After the testing which was verbal, written and alot of hand/eye coordination tests he made his dx. After being treated in counseling and medication for PTSD I can see why I never was successful in counseling before that. If the Dx is right and the treatment is right then it works. Those who don't really have it will do well with counseling and anti-depressants. Some of my symptoms are not common in someone who is depressed. I know because I have Major Depressive Disorder also and the symptoms of the two are very, very different and need to be treated very differently. I find PTSD to be more of an anxiety disorder than a depression. What is trauma to one person may not be to another. There are physical, mental and emotional symptoms that go together with a PTSD dx.

[jayne]

My PTSD is on crowds...for the last 3 years we were in Germany americans were targets for any idiot that thought he could get his 40 virgins....we were told over and over Dont dress like an American.dont act like an American and dont speak English in a crowd...dont go to known American hang outs.....we had armed guards on the playgrounds and on the kids school buses.....several times we were evacuated from the exchange or commisary for bomb threats and once while in a car coming on base a crowd of protesters rocked our cars with our kids inside....I now have an adversion to crowds or being backed into a corner..or small rooms..it will freak me out.. I cant breathe...think straight all I see is a very small circle and need to get out to breathe......I hope it will go away soon because it is becomming more and more common to be in a crowd of non english speaking people in walmart or anywhere....was it one thing that I can point to that started it....nope just 3 years of watching every move we made......

[capricorn]

Jayne...I suffer differently...I have exact situations that caused it, and sadly there is more than one. When told by different counselors over the years that I react/act like a trauma survivor. Being a trauma survivor scares me at times. I know what it can do to a person. Tough to keep the triggers under control....I am getting so much better at it.......one of my first steps was not worrying what others around me thought. If they didn't know or understand ...Oh well. JMO

[Still in Limbo]

Cap., I was Told This Once, and it has been My Motto ever Since!!: "What People Think about Me is None of My Business!!" If They don't have the Courage to Talk to Me Face to Face about Something They want to Know, then They are not Worth My Time!! Try it, it's a Very Liberating Attitude!!

[capricorn]

This is something I have been working hard on Limbo...I used to really care what people thought of me until I spent about 8 years in counseling dealing with the PTSD. My family and those close to me understand and know what triggers me and what they're looking for and other than that I don't explain myself anymore to anyone.

[bagpussinamerica]

I used to think that it didn't matter what other people thought of me. Well I thought I had grown out of that some years back. But last night I took a quiz on the internet...something about IQ. It came back saying that a friend of mine thought I was stupid!!!!! I know it was a scam...but it really hurt. And I was angry too. On top of that I could not get out of the site...just kept coming back with that little box saying that.

With regards to PTSD, I was told that I have that. After living with my ex for a year who was extremely abusive. That is actually why I am in this country. I still have very hard times when I think that I see him in a grocery store or something. When I get that trigger it can take days before I am feeling safe again. Strange thing, the mind.

[nyyank09]

To all the good people hear thanks for the reply's. I will let everyone no how it goes!!!!!!