Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

[4cruisin]

I was wondering if anyone here has experienced PTSD? I think that I may be feeling the effects from something that happened last week. My nerves are shot and it seems to be getting worse instead of better. I cannot concentrate and am very jumpy. How long do the effects last?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[mickeyboat]

Call your doctor. I don't know that much about PTSD, but if what you are feeling is affecting your everyday life, you may need help. Your doctor should be able to give you some recommendations.

Hope you are on the road to recovery soon.

Denae

 

[bellacam]

4crusin - I pm'd you

 

[JoyG]

I never saw a doctor for it, but looking back I think I did suffer from Post Tramautic Stress Disorder...and if that was what it was, it went on for years.

In college I was woken up one night by the sound of the fire alarm. A hot water pipe had burst in my room and the room was filled with steam (which looked like smoke to me) and the floor was covered with two inches of scalding hot water (which felt like fire). I jumped out of bed and half awake, my first instinct was to flee since I thought the building was on fire. My feet were burned pretty badly since I ran through the water and I was taken to the ER. Thankfully, no permanent physical damage.

Anyway for years after that I would have night terrors where I would jump out of bed and start running. Once I made it to the front door and had it open when my family found me. When I got married, DH would make a joke and say he was scared that I'd take off into the night so he made me sleep on the inside of the bed. When he felt me jump up (half asleep) and get ready to run, he'd put his arm over me and push me back into bed. This went on for years. I want to say maybe 5 years or so.

 

[BrinxFam]

My daddy suffers from PTSD and has since he returned from Vietnam. After all these years his is having a very difficult time right now. Unfortunately, this is something he will never recover from and Vietnam for him will never be over.

 

[beckmrk04]

PTSD can manifest itself in a variety of ways. You should call your doctor or a counselor! They can help you find various different resources and coping mechanisms that can help you through it!

 

[4cruisin]

Thanks for the advice. This involves a murder and some of the people that are in the same boat as me are having the same feelings. My family doesn't understand my reaction because it happened near my workplace. I'm trying my best to be rational and cope but if I don't feel I'm improving in a few days, I will give my Dr. a call.
Thanks again.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

There is a treatment that has been used effectively for PTSD...It's non-invasive and has repeated success with PTSD patients.

It's called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). We used the therapy with DD. You can visit the website at www.emdr.com , but basically the therapy goes somewhat like this:

When you experience a trauma, the brain often cannot make sense of, and therefore not store effectively, the experience. A psychologist noticed when treating her PTSD patients that a common thread amongst all of them was a movement in their eyes when recalling or triggering a memory of the experience. This therapy helps make sense of and move the memory to long-term storage where the physical symptoms no longer manifest themselves.

My daughter (age 16) says it was a significant turn-around in her therapy.

 

[disneygals]

My sister was treated with EMDR. I also read about it in Health magazine. This actually helps with everyday stuff, too. I haven't read your link, yet, but what I read in Health mag was to focus on your problem and then close your eyes and move your eyes left to right rapidly 30 times. For some reason, it is calming.

 

[WDWAurora]

Well, technically it can't be PTSD yet. It has to be ongoing for over a month to be PTSD, which is not to say that there's nothing wrong. Acute Stress Disorder is when symptoms have been ongoing for less than a month, so that's more likely. (I checked my diagnostic manual to make sure I was giving you accurate info). If you are having trouble though, you should absolutely see someone. For the most part, this is not something that you'll just wake up better from one day. If you do, there may be a lot of suffering in between now and then. Being proactive with things like this is a very good thing.

 

[4cruisin]

Thanks. I just know that I feel very anxious, nervous and uncomfortable. I keep checking my surroundings and make sure that my doors are locked at home several times during the evening.(Eventhough the murder happened near my workplace)

DH says that I seem to be much more quiet lately and am not interacting at home. I assume this is still part of a normal healing process. The episode is still very new and I'm hoping that maybe if we get some closure with an arrest, it will put my fears to rest.
Thanks for all the support.