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Mental Health Does PTSD fade with time?

mate I delete away the past or modify if it is going to get me in trouble with future employers but I answer honestly as I see that as being more valuable.

cant have both.
 
lonelyDude said:
mate I delete away the past or modify if it is going to get me in trouble with future employers but I answer honestly as I see that as being more valuable.

cant have both.
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Look within reason if what I wrote is completely bonkers or may have personal consequences delete away.

But I made a call that was maybe too fast here and I can't deny that. And I shouldn't. I said what I said. And then I was presented with a viewpoint I failed to consider.

To me it is more intellectually honest and genuine to leave up my original comment as I'm not denying I said something that may be out of line or wrong.

What matters is that as soon as I realised I may have COMPLETELY misread the tone, a talent I have, made it clear that I accepted the alternative view.

Some people want to maintain a perfect perception by people of being good and pure.

I fuck up, constantly. It's how I learn. Better to have people point it out than not change. Nurse Ratchet did the right thing, she was direct and to the point with me and elaborated.

I wasn't being an asshole, I was upset, and I failed to consider alternatives. Autism also has for me a spectacular way of making me not consider things from other perspectives sometimes when I have arrived at the most apparent one (I work on this with my speech therapist). Having it explained to me in greater detail allows me to better understand and follow the logic that I missed.

I actually am fine with how Nurse Ratchet responded. When people try to subtly correct me it... Fails. She basically executed the perfect correct autism error 101 in a gentle but firm and direct manner that was straightforward for me to grasp.
 
if im caught im caught but im also dyslexic.

im editing post most of the time not to remove content but to add words I missed or fix spelling.

im a shocker for it and have to get all of my work checked before submission if its english based.

code no probs
 
lonelyDude said:
if im caught im caught but im also dyslexic.

im editing post most of the time not to remove content but to add words I missed or fix spelling.

im a shocker for it and have to get all of my work checked before submission if its english based.

code no probs
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I edit and add stuff because I think of things I want to also include after the fact. Plus I am bad at reading big blocks of text and replying to all of it because it's overwhelming. Ironic as all I do is post huge blocks of text. Lol.

But yeah. I don't tend to proof read stuff I post. I don't have a filter and neither to my comments. You get my raw dog views.
 
lonelyDude said:
comes with the turf really hence a forum such as this.
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Some people like my really long posts. They find my writing nice to read, descriptive and interesting.

For others they aren't interested.

I tell people I become friends with that they have zero obligation to respond toy overwhelming autism word vomit tsunami of text at any time, and to just pick the crucial bits. I get that it can be a lot. If we are on the same page and they know I'm not expecting replies to it all and it doesn't upset me, and I know they aren't just ignoring me it's just they're shifting through the irrelevant nonsense I included we both have a better time and communication is easier.

I have an odd manner of conversing. But if a person asks how they can change anything to ease discourse or how they can help me improve I'm always willing to try. That's why I do so much speech therapy.

Autistic people don't actually show communication deficits when measured talking to other autistics. It's only when talking to neurotypical people. So the communcatio breakdown is a two way street. I'm often not doing things very well, and the interpretation is way off.

Verbal is easier to correct. Written I have realised can be a disaster.
 
Definitely gets better with time and the treatment models mentioned. My experience was that without intervention it gets progressively worse as well. I have been on a similar journey over the last 5 years after 3rd degree burns, hospital trauma and traumatic litigation tied up with all that. You absolutely can get better. I’d say I’m about 80% improved after 5 years.
 
Definitely can get better. I still have flashbacks and nightmares etc but it'd nowhere near as bad as it was. 👍
 
@paranoid android I hope the responses you have received from all of us who share your struggles can provide you with the drive you need to begin accessing appropriate therapy if you haven't already, reading up more about the condition and creating your own toolkit, and knowing that the pain you experience when doing therapy for PTSD is worth it at the moment in which you live a life where you are not tormented by this disorder.

You are absolutely not alone here. It is treatable, it just happens to be the only mental health issue where to get better you have to deteriorate rapidly and it's fucking unappealing. The sooner you do it, the sooner it'll be over. The longer you wait, the longer you continue to suffer in shittiness.

My complex trauma issues were just impacting my life so much I worked on them bit by bit with my therapist. He's not huge on labels plus he has to use the DSMV which doesn't include complex PTSD so he was treating me for that, but like he just treats whatever my biggest issue at the time was.

One thing that can happen with diagnostic labels is that people can over identify with them. I did it with bipolar initially and if I felt happy I thought that meant I was manic and if I was sad that meant I was depressed.

For some people a diagnostic label is super useful because it gives a tangible name to their pain. They can connect with others and find unity.

Some therapists. Don't diagnose patients. They find it allows them to focus on just the presenting issues, and some patients go off and research the diagnosis then all of a sudden they have every single symptom. It's not faking per se, it's real as they do have it, but they feel something that is a hint of a symptom and they dial into it and massively magnify it. Then the patient is now worse off than they were before.

You do not need every symptom of a mental illness to meet criteria. One I lack for cPTSD is visual flashbacks, which are quite literally the most well known feature of PTSD. Never had one. Not once. And I can't ever say I will.

But I still have it. Some of the more subtle symptoms people talk about finding infuriating to deal with which I did mention is the inability to sit with ones back to the wall. This is totally normal with PTSD. In fact it is so normal and universally present it's actually used in malingering tests. Psychologists will set a chair up with its back facing the door for a new patient they are testing for maligering, exaggerated or hystrionic PTSD. It's not an official diagnostic symptom, which the group of fakers all know off by heart back to front. But it is a fucking thing anyone who actually has the condition knows is really fucking annoying. The people who fake will literally sit down no second thought and do the whole session sitting comfortably. Ones who aren't faking will request the chair be moved or they will become hyperaroused.

Working on small PTSD issues like this where you can have a measurable outcome, like being able to sit in a different chair could be a worthwhile goal, because you could see some genuinely good progress

Plus we all know how fucking annoying it is running perpetually early to ensure you get the special seat.
 
Thanks a million peeps for the responses. Unfortunatly i am kinda limited in regards to treatment as it takes a good 2 years or more to see a therapist here in Canada. I can't afford a private one. Righty now im on clonazepam and zopiclone which does help when i don't run out of the shit. Alot of my ptsd stems from having cotards syndrome and thinking i was dead for 3 goddamn months. That shit was not pleasant. Unfortunatly absolutly noone has this disorder so theres no support groups for it.
 
paranoid android said:
Thanks a million peeps for the responses. Unfortunatly i am kinda limited in regards to treatment as it takes a good 2 years or more to see a therapist here in Canada. I can't afford a private one. Righty now im on clonazepam and zopiclone which does help when i don't run out of the shit. Alot of my ptsd stems from having cotards syndrome and thinking i was dead for 3 goddamn months. That shit was not pleasant. Unfortunatly absolutly noone has this disorder so theres no support groups for it.
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You are the first person I've ever met who has had cotards. I only know about it because I randomly ended up on the Wikipedia page. I wouldn't be able to understand how that feels.

Given your lack of access to typical treatment like a psychologist, I would suggest exploring places that could offer counsellors who are trained in trauma informed care. I get my specialist CSA counsellor who is trauma informed through a place called relationships Australia which is an NGO and the counselling is funded by the federal government.

Places like social work community centres, domestic violence assistance places, even drug and alcohol counselling from NGO services can be extensively trained in high standard trauma informed care. My social worker who helped more then my clinical psychologist did with my shame from the trauma was actually my outpatient drug and alcohol social worker.

Maybe it might be worth while to think outside the box as to finding some treatment that can start you off or tide you over until the waiting list is up.

I'd also suggest the resources thread and learning a lot about how PTSD works in the way it biological works and changes how you feel so that you understand why you are having a certain experience
 
^ Yeah the only other person i know of with cotards syndrome is my best friend from Australia who got it in the psych ward. We where best friends before we both got cotards syndrome so its fucking weird. Dealing with thinking your dead is fucking weird though. One thing though is i feel like i could handle any situation after that shit. Im pretty sure i could be dropped off in the middle of afghanistan and ifd be fine now lol

Ill check the resources thread thanks. Im kinda new to all this
 
PTSD can never fully go away, but you can build coping mechanisms, or keep immense interest in whatever creates such a thing. Yourself, or arts like music or writing that inspires you. Time itself can improve. It will still be difficult to reflect on them, though, or the random things that can trigger them. I have C-PTSD and have had it all my life, only found out a year ago. It explained everything and what I'm still going through, stuck in a traumatic situation everyday. There will be trauma looking back on most of my 20s, I turn 29 in December.

However, apparently 3 therapy assisted sessions with MDMA can reduce PTSD symptoms long term for 70% of people or something. There's quite a bit of noise in the med world about it, or has been. I've only done it once, a week ago actually. It was wonderful and I was definitely very happy and relaxed. But I don't think that would do it for me personally. Tough to say. A drug can't just magically make your life situation better, only your perception of it.
 
Without treatment, PTSD never goes away. The reason is because of triggers. Every time the PTSD gets triggered by a situation or a person, it reinforces the pathway. Usually in the amygdala which is where fight or flight is regulated. The triggered pathway is like a live wire with a set pattern that gets electrified over and over again.

The only way to resolve PTSD is to alter the structure of the wire... with therapy, drugs, different ways of thinking and reacting, etc.

In my experience, trauma is not something that ever goes away, you just become very familiar with it and learn how to "talk to it" instead of instantly reacting. It's like an old friend that comes around and you say, "Oh, it's you again. Hi."

PTSD is at its worst when you don't have any methods to de-escalate it or dialogue with it. It behaves more like an automatic response that terrorizes you. With training, you can learn to exercise free will within the automatic response, so it doesn't re-inflict suffering on you so much. For some people, it eventually just dissolves completely. For others, it's a permanent fixture in their minds that comes up periodically and they just have to deal with it.

PTSD is a physical response to a memory. When you're untrained, the memory feels as real as if it's happening right now. With training, you realize that you're experiencing a memory, but you are in the present moment. A seed within you becomes anchored and present, and dialogues with the trauma body that is in the memory. It builds a bridge between the memory and the present moment and, with luck, over time the memory body becomes less all-encompassing because you become more and more connected to the present moment as the memory is occurring. It takes practice, but IMO this "bridging" technique is the only thing that works well. I tried so many other techniques and they were, for me, mostly bullshit.

These days when I have PTSD flashbacks they last for seconds to a minute. I don't spin out forever. But it wasn't always that way.
 
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Wow.. Very impressive thread everyone, good job 😊

I can't add anything to the actual question by the OP but want to share this clip because I can't agree more with George Carlin -- the guy's insight into language is phenomenal (this is part of a longer routine).




The entire routine:

 
I think that it certainly can, depending on its nature. For example, if it were induced by drugs, then it may take time but people tend to revert to baseline. Therapy is a must, ime.
 
Yeah it's just weird for me. The things that seemed to cause my ptsd the most where solitary confinement, having cotards syndrome and thinking i was dead and thr screaming at night and the yelling from the nurses. I can still hear those goddamn nurses yelling at me ffs.

The clonazepam and zopiclone and morphine really helps though
 
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