[Pixiegirl]

Barbie,
I suffer from PTSD too. I have been diagnosed with it. First for the loss of my son and I have also been diagnosed with Secondary PTSD from H's military combat PTSD. I do see a PTSD counselor once a week. The intrusive thoughts and reliving the trauma causes anxiety. At least this is what I have learned.

There is a lot of information on the internet on PTSD if you haven't read it already.

[barbiedoll]

thank you songandance... wow, interesting for me to see that in black and white. I too have ptsd.. actually the call it Post Infidelity Trauma Response. I have been referred to a Trauma Center by my doctor and they faxed some paperwork to me today. I finally have time. I finally can concentrate on me..and less on him. I am also going to take whatever i can get for hotflashes.. hellish things. We saw cancer doctor today. His surgery is booked, in 6 weeks. It is all sooo overwhelming

[Pixiegirl]

Yes there are many forms of PTSD they are finding out. Glad to hear you are going to a trauma center. The added stress with your H and his cancer I am sure is making PTSD worse for you. And the hot flashes...check in to that because that is also a symptom of PTSD.

For me I become paralyzed and obsessed with thoughts. I take something for anxiety and the depression part. I also have social anxiety because of this.

Overwhelming is an understatement.

[MyBrainIsBroken]

For me I become paralyzed and obsessed with thoughts. I take something for anxiety and the depression part. I also have social anxiety because of this.

Overwhelming is an understatement.

This is me. I start treatment for PTSD in a week. My therapist asked me today if I was ready if my wife came home today. I couldn't imagine it. The thought of her being around still makes me uncomfortable. I still need to heal.

Take care of yourself. PTSD has caused me to feel stuck, too.

[paradigmshift]

I suffered from PTSD due to a schizophrenic neighbour banging on my walls and floor with a hammer 24/7 for 3 years, among other things like standing outside my door at 3am in the morning. Even after I sold my apartment and moved into a rental, I would jump whenever I heard something drop or a knock coming from my neighbours'. It started to spiral into paranoia. I developed a phobia of living in apartment buildings and wanted a house with no neighbours nearby.

Never saw a therapist. Took about 6 months (I read that this is the standard time needed to heal and it turned out to be true for me) after I moved away from the madness to get 80% over it. 1.5 years later today, there is still that remaining 20% fear of something similar happening again, and I think it will always be there, but it doesn't interfere with my daily life anymore.

[Songanddance]

I was diagnosed with PTSD by my T. I have logged it all on my threads as it was a fascinating and liberating experience. I'll post the links up in another reply when I can find them.

Suffice to say - the treatment only works if you are totally honest with yourself. You have to succumb to your distress/your pain and you have to be prepared to face whatever realisation about yourself and H that you may have as a result of treatment.

My T (who I nickname my lifesaver) was quite "brutal" with me. She brooked no nonsense and when I had a moment of realisation she probed and questioned until I was completely clear and conscious of what I was doing and what I had to do to deal with it. She also gave me brilliant strategies and techniques to deal with my feelings as they arose (a bit more complex than Stayed's elastic band and other images) These helped me enormously but more importantly than all of this - she helped me find the courage to be true to myself. To acknowledge and dissipate my flaws - to help me make my choices and to help me feel ok with myself.
Her first question to me was what did I want from the treatment . My reply " to feel ok" Mission accomplished.

[barbiedoll]

PTSD is a cruel consequence of someone elses actions. Just fuels the rage and injustice some days. I have to step out of MY life to fix ME for behaviors of HIS. But i will.. no one can live like this. The treatment facility that I have been referred to, you actually live there for a month . Home on weekends if appropriate. That alone , almost put me into a panic attack. Scared to leave / scared to stay. If he was ever going to be unfaithfull again.. it would be a golden opportunity for him. I do not believe he would... BUT , neither did I before.  To ever live my life imagining " I do not know something " is the cruelest thing that can happen to a women that loves a man. Afraid of it all. Terrified actually . It is hard to let a person who has lied and cheated help you heal from lying and cheating. thank you all.

[Songanddance]

PTSD is not just a consequence of cruel actions by someone else.

My T told me about another patient of hers who had been sailing with friends and the boom swung over unexpectedly knocking her friend out and over the boat. The patient tried to get her out of the water but couldn't and even though the two men jumped in and hauled her out she died as a result of the head injury.
The patient suffered PTSD because she had seen the boom coming and had ducked but hadn't been quick enough to shout or shove her friend out of the way. The guilt and shock she had was overwhelming - she couldn't work for months, couldn't sleep, her marriage started to fall apart, ADs weren't working. She had treatment with my T to help her recover. She did  and she has forgiven herself but will always wonder - what if....

PTSD is the body's mental and  emotional response to a shock of some kind. We are all capable of having PTSD - it is actually the level of response   that our psyche can handle. This is why some PTSD "causes" may seem so much more intense than others.

[bipolared]

I believe I had PTSD after a car accident when I was 20.  Lasted for years but I don't think it was a "thing" back then, or if it was it only applied to military veterans.   I remember shortly after BD thinking that I was having the same feelings, symptoms, responses, etc.  Yet another way this forum has been a Godsend as I have been able to deal with it so much better.

[barbiedoll]

I find this very interesting..PTSD is the body's mental and  emotional response to a shock of some kind. We are all capable of having PTSD - it is actually the level of response   that our psyche can handle. This is why some PTSD "causes" may seem so much more intense than others.
I was abandoned by my first husband when i was 21 . He just walked away from me , a 9 month old and a 22 month old . Just was not happy. He wanted to drink, be with the boys, ride motorcycles and chase women. He was a child , not a man ready to be a father and a husband. For years i dreamt the same thing. He was tied to a chair and had to listen to me ... I "got my say" in a dream, he would not give me this in real life. Not having "your say about tour own life, your own direction, your own body ... your 50% of your marriage ( so to say)... is devastating. This experience absolutely directly links into those old injuries and trauma . I was years getting beyond that abandonment and years truly trusting my husband of today. He knew all those things. In fact , once in his monstorring arrogance he actually said " I know what this will do to you Barbiedoll.. but I just don't care anymore.". It is all linked in my soul and memory and is horribly painfull. Trust will be a massive hurdle for me and very aware it may never happen .