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More people sufferer from PTSD from abuse than war. Do You Consider PTSD a Real Disability?
Some reports say women have a harder time than men with PTSD. Personally, I think it is hard on both.
Yes, I do.
Both of my father's feet were blown off by shrapnel in World War II, one early in the evening during battle and the other near morning as he lay there with other injured and dead people around him waiting until medical help could get through.
He had his feet amputated, was fitted for prosthetics, learned to walk, went to college and became an engineer, married my mother and had seven kids.
But he would often drift into what we called the "Zone", someplace where he was somewhere else and unaware of what was going on around him. He had no startle reflex, nothing made him scared or made him jumpy, even if something happened, like a kid got hurt or a big tree branch came down and crashed on the house. He was often emotionally detached.
He was a good father and provider, pleasant personality, never felt sorry for himself. He died in 1999 at the age of 78.
In 2001, I went to work one morning and somebody flew a jet airliner into the building where I worked. I escaped with my life and no physical injury, but after that, I knew where my father went when he was in the Zone!
Yes...I wondered what it was all about until I was in a car wreck where some idiot on his cell phone didn't see that everyone in front of him had stopped on the freeway (because of another idiot driver who decided he was in the wrong lane)...so he smashed into me at highway speed and caused a 7 car pile-up.
No one was seriously hurt, and I am not saying that I have PTSD or trying to downplay what it means to others who have it, but ever since then, when I have to come to a sudden stop on the road, my whole body goes cold, my heart seems to stop for a second...it's a crazy mild form and it has gotten better over time (not to mention I leave room for the idiot behind me to stop and I am always watching him)...but I get it now...a little idea of what it probably means to have the PTSD.
Absolutely. I used to work in a place that brought me into contact with a lot of people suffering from PTSD. As carterstamp says, there are certainly varying degrees of it, but it can be debilitating for some.
I read a great article a few years ago on the PTSD symptoms of Vietnam nurses. Most of them were women, and for 20 years and more they had problems with nightmares, anxiety, depression and relationships but they never attributed it to their service in Vietnam. Because they had to detach themselves emotionally while they were there from the trauma of seeing a constant stream of mangled and dismembered bodies, they also learned to detach themselves from their memories. Some of them had gone to Vietnam veterans organizations, but because they were in a "caring" profession, they usually ended up helping other vets rather than paying attention to their own problems.
One woman who suffered from depression sought help and was seeing her therapist for a year and a half before she casually mentioned one day that she had been a nurse in Vietnam. The therapist caught it and started to probe her memories, and the woman broke down and cried for hours after telling what she had seen and of the young men she hadn't been able to save, the ones that they would put aside because they were going to die no matter what so that they could try to help the savable ones. That woman started an organization for these nurses so that they could talk about their experiences and get the help they need.
didn't know I have it till recently, even after 16 years of psychotherapy!
It's interesting, because I have multiple mental health issues, but no professional ever mentioned PTSD to me. Quite odd, considering that when I took a PTSD test online, I scored a 20/20! I then proceeded to type a list of mostly extremely traumatic events in my life and it was longer than 1 page. So now we are finally zeroing in on my "chronic depression", "ADHD", "Generalized Anxiety Disorder", and all the other diagnoses, which possibly really go back to main cause: PTSD. I find it hard to believe that no one caught this earlier (I'm 47) and this has been going on since my early childhood, getting progressively worse over time. I also find it odd that I'm the one who always has to do the homework and then mention it to my doctors and therapists. Otherwise, this would never have been identified sooner. I'm already disabled, and I KNOW first-hand that people are not making it up when they say that these types of disorders can cause you to not be able to maintain gainful employment. Let those who doubt spend 1 day in your body and mind before judging you! Of course for some "normal" people, they may think it impossible and "it's just in your mind" or even say "why can't you just forget about it and move on?" They are clueless, and have no possibility for any sort of empathy unless they themselves are affected. Sound familiar?
My wife was diagnosed with PTSD about 8 months ago, she's 36. She went through hell as a child and abuse continued untill she got divorced from her first husband. I never knew much about it untill I recently realised how bad it is. She would often get "triggered" by things I say or other people, and just shut everybody out. She then accuses me of things I did or didn't do, that I'm a liar and manipulator...etc. I have to be very strong needless to say because I love her to bits and we get along so well, but It's hard! I sometimes feel like giving up...And it feels like the more I say the worst the situation gets. And when I try and ignore her it also doesn't work, because she tells me I'm like her ex husband...This only happens when she's in that "Zone".
But then I remember what her psychiatrist says "She is not herself in that moment in time". She gets de-attached from the outside world. This makes it worse when she mixes alchohol with it, and I've tried talking and helping and giving advice, but it feels like I am alone in this because people don't understand or just don't care. I really need some help or just talk to someone who can give me advice...I really need to help her.
She's currently on Citalopram, Cilift and Urbanol. I must admit the chemist and psychiatrist receptionist confused her medication and she hasn't been taking the meds for about 3 weeks now, maybe that's the reason she's relapsing again. I guess I should just take it day by day right?
More people sufferer from PTSD from abuse than war. Do You Consider PTSD a Real Disability?
Some reports say women have a harder time than men with PTSD. Personally, I think it is hard on both.
I was in an abusive relationship and have PTSD. If someone raises their voice I start shaking. I have trouble dealing with certain situations and sleeping. It's a real thing. Nearly any confrontation causes anxiety and a real body response (shaking from head to toe).
I wish I knew how to correct it but even therapy doesn't change the body response. I feel so bad for those with PTSD from war. That must be hell.
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didn't know I have it till recently, even after 16 years of psychotherapy!
