Hi All, happy to find this forum. I was just diagnosed with C-PTSD, aged 42, it all makes sense and I can now see how I have been like this since I was around 10.
But its kinda depressing, since it sounds like it is something I will have for the rest of my life. :thumbdown:
Having tried counselling several times and SSRI's for the past 20 yrs, looking like I will be prescribed Lyrica.
Hoping to read and learn a lot about C-PTSD and treatments from the forum.
Thanks
Hi Bart
Welcome aboard!
I got a diagnosis last year and its a bit confusing.
Lots of useful info and great people here, I hope you find it helps you, it helps me a lot.
Best wishes.
Hi Bart,
Stay open to the good and yes, some of the downside too. The good? Well, for starters you now have a handle for what's been going on. The bad? We don't like it--understandably so but there's lots of things we don't start out liking but can grow from. Be ready for some serious mood swings when all hope seems to fade like a mirage, but be ready to surprise yourself at the resilience that is yours.
Welcome.
Welcome on here, Bart :heythere:
Very supportive, informative forum for me since day one. Hope you find it that way too.
I don't believe I'll ever be 100% or even 90% healed but the right therapy and/or other supports e.g. this forum can go a long way to helping us heal somewhat and help us live with it in a way that's not always just depression and just anxiety.
I see that you've felt this way since you were about 10. That suggests that your trauma developed in childhood. You might find the Development of CPTSD in Childhood board more appropriate or more useful. But no hard and fast rules here. You're free to read and post where you like.
Hi Bart
welcome.
Knowing is winning in this game. You can't fight C-PTSD unless you understand it. Look at it as an injury rather than a mental illness and it all slots into place. Long drawn and trauma and stress will alter the structure of your brain and this is the result. The good news is that thanks to neuroplasticity, it's repairable if you create the right conditions.
You got here with negative reinforcement, so positive reinforcement is the antidote. Remove as many negative influences as you can from your life and start being kind to yourself. Listen to your body and don't push beyond your energy levels. Accept the moods as natural and a part of healing. No doubt you have experienced some of the same trauma as many of the rest of us, maybe it's unique, but the result is most definitely going to be something the people in here will recognise. Tell your story and listen to advice. And when I say advice, I mean in here. No one readily understands trauma and aftermath, many will never get it or will dismiss it. Folks in here are very grounding and very kind. Help and be helped, it's a great healer. You are not alone.
It doesn't cure fast, but even if it doesn't fully cure at all, remember that life will never be as bad as it was when this injury was caused.
Believe in life.
Welcome,
Yes you may have it for the rest of your life, but you can learn to manage it.
welcome, bart, very glad you're here.
i know that a lot of my healing has come from being a member here, from learning more about traumatization and the wounds it causes, and from the kindness and caring of these folks. it's been a community into which i finally feel like i fit. i hope you find the same.