Does cptsd get cured completely?

[Eyessoblue]

Ok this probably sounds like a stupid question, but can you be completely cured from cptsd ? by this I mean move on in life with no more symptoms , feelings, flashbacks etc and move on in life where you think about this  no more as if it was never there. I'm hoping you can but you don't hear a lot about people who have completely got over/recovered from it which made me wonder if you actually can be.

[Three Roses]

I have no personal experience in being completely healed but it's something I am aiming for.

https://drkathleenyoung.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/can-complex-ptsd-be-cured/

[sanmagic7]

i don't know.  since i'm nearly 70 and just began dealing with my symptoms from a c-ptsd angle a little over a year ago, i don't know if i have too much baggage already to completely clean it all out in the time i have left.  however, i do have faith that i will be able to whittle this beast down to a manageable size at least.  i've made a lot of progress in a short time, especially since being part of this community.

the mind is a wondrous entity.  i would encourage everyone to never give up hope.

[Candid]

I don't expect to be cured of CPTSD, not because I'm over 60 but because it's been with me all my life so it's part of my personality. The only thing I want to change right now is the way I relate to others. I no longer assume everyone is better than I am, knows the Secret of Life while I don't, or can see glaring flaws in my personality that I'm not aware of. I'm starting to like who I am, I no longer want to hide from the world, and any day now I'll start making friends. This has not come about with therapy, but with the love and support I've received on this forum.

I liken myself to a room that hasn't been cleaned for a long while. First I set out to clean the biggest and most affected area, the floor (my ability to relate to others). When I've done that there'll be the windows and ledges, the dusting, the washing of curtains, etc. It'll never be finished, but I can get it to a condition where I'm happy with it. Things will be easier from then; maintenance will be automatic and ongoing.

[Contessa]

I liken myself to a room that hasn't been cleaned for a long while. First I set out to clean the biggest and most affected area, the floor (my ability to relate to others). When I've done that there'll be the windows and ledges, the dusting, the washing of curtains, etc. It'll never be finished, but I can get it to a condition where I'm happy with it. Things will be easier from then; maintenance will be automatic and ongoing.

I like this analogy very much Candid.

If we cannot ultimately be cured of our own instances of cptsd, we certainly can work with it when we are well enough. I do like to think that although I've been through some nasty experiences, I have the benefit of learning so much about myself and other people because of them. Although I've gone through the depths of my own personal  *, I'm so much more equipped to be there and effectively support someone else one day should they need it. So if I cannot be cured, I can manage it and use it.

Just like a person with diabetes manages their health through diet or medication, a person with paraplegia manages mobility with a wheel chair... epilepsy... infertility... multiple sclerosis...  brain cancer...

Remembering the things that some of my nearest, dearest friends and family are working with in their own lives helps with perspective. We all have our own battles, they're just different from each other. But I do acknowledge that I can only say this now after a lot of hard work, self improvement, medication, and unconditional support from my friends on this forum.

Knowing that we have cptsd, gives us something to work with. Without this diagnosis, we have no chance to cure it. If it cannot be cured, so be it. But on the flipside, oddly, I feel so much better for knowing I've got this. Otherwise I'd still be wondering around lost in this life, if I was still to have one. I cannot imagine that alterative right now.

[Candid]

If we cannot ultimately be cured of our own instances of cptsd, we certainly can work with it when we are well enough.

I agree wholeheartedly, and I expect to go into training before my next social occasion, which is this coming weekend. Apart from showering, washing my hair and putting on my glad rags, I intend to use lots of positive affirmations on the way there: I'm a friendly, helpful person; most people like me; I'm interesting to talk to, etc.

I also see value in the times when we're not well enough, such as last Tuesday when I had a major crack-up, told H I wanted to be dead, wept openly and helplessly while sitting at a pub's outdoor table. It seems to me the only thing to do when we're like that is to surrender to it. Wednesday was the best day I've had for months. Following Radical Acceptance of who I am now, I instituted Thought-Stopping which I started a thread about yesterday. I was actually too happy to sleep on that night and was afraid Thursday would be the Inevitable Crash. To be sure I was flagging after lunch, but I didn't go back to the depths of Tuesday and am optimistic that I'll never go there again. The darkest corner swept, washed and repainted, a window and a big pot plant installed, maybe.

Although I've gone through the depths of my own personal  *, I'm so much more equipped to be there and effectively support someone else one day should they need it. So if I cannot be cured, I can manage it and use it.

That you can. There's nothing so uplifting as showing someone else the way. Wednesdays I attend a Living With Brain Injury group, and I attracted a woman who's in far worse shape than I am. She had no idea how to get herself home on the bus. The funny side of this is until very recently I was bus-phobic myself. I helped her cross the big road safely, got us both on a bus she thought was the wrong one (and she checked with the driver despite my reassurances), then waited with her until I could see her onto the connecting bus she needed even though my second-leg bus was already there. Usually I walk home a different route (it takes no longer), but this experience was well worth the £4 it cost me because it made me feel capable and strong.

We all have our own battles, they're just different from each other.

I have a way of sniffing out People of Bad Parents but I don't go around telling them they've probably got CPTSD, I just say enough to let them know I understand their current distress. One 50-something male friend of H's starts each relationship giving far too much, which is why he's always borrowing his rent. The women soon drop him and he's heartbroken every time. I'm taking a wild guess his mother rejected him, too.

I feel so much better for knowing I've got this. Otherwise I'd still be wondering around lost in this life, if I was still to have one.

Even though I began to identify mother as not-so-great in my late 20s, I was 56 before I found information online and the lightbulb went on. I'd been alone with it all those years, believing I was the only person in the world whose mother hated her. The internet signalled the end of my career but I love it for the company and comfort it's made accessible. It's been better for me than all my medications and 'therapy' put together.

Things are indeed looking up as CPTSD's many casualties find themselves and come out of hiding.

[Contessa]

Haha, I had written this fantastic response and was so excited to post it, but this browser wiped it. Oh well, at least it wasn't a crucial part of my masters thesis. Still... it is a shame the internet cannot solidify the Oscar worthy narrative. The world has missed out dearly.

Short short version... How good is it Candid to be able to pay it forward?

[Candid]

How good is it Candid to be able to pay it forward?

It's empowering to step from victim to protector, that's for sure.

I'm sorry you lost your post. I know it was a gem!