To anyone dealing with PTSD, how much time in therapy did it take for you to heal?

[Anonymous]

[CasuallySamsonite]

In my experience, it takes a life time and even then you don't "heal" or "are cured" ... but as with most mental health issues you can learn to cope and move past the worst parts of things. I still don't sleep well and have some bad days but overall I manage to cope and hold myself together better than the shrinks ever seemed to expect I would. I don't think I'll ever be comfortable in a public resturaunt without my back to a solid wall and my eye scanning the door and crowd. Don't know that I'll ever feel "safe" but I still have a life, I go out and hold a job as long as I can find a boss that doesn't mind me being 15 mins late most of the time (I'll always work late whenever, drowning in work helps but mornings are hard for me) and ofc, there's the survivor's guilt that I'll probably always have to live with... until I don't have to anymore.

I actually hope there's no afterlife. Maybe if I return to nothing, I'll be able to get some dreamless sleep that I won't ever wake up from... sounds really peaceful.

[msc545]

Unfortunately, combat-induced PTSD, which I specialize in diagnosing and treating, is very refractory to treatment but not completely so.

A few years back, someone wondered why this is, and this led to a number of studies that imaged various portions of the brain, including some at the very bottom of the brain, called the hippocampus and amygdala, which are thought, respectively, to play a role in memory and emotion although the actual functions are unclear. The findings are complicated but the short version is that changes in metabolism and structure were seen differentially in men who had combat exposure and PTSD diagnoses as a result, leading to the tentative conclusion that in some way, possibly by the release of stress hormones like cortisol, the combat experience had literally changed some brain structures, and it was hypothesized that those changes might be a cause of PTSD, and further, that we have no practical way to change those structures back to their original state (s). Here are some articles that explain all this in a lot more detail:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=imaging+of+basal+ganglia+in+PTSD&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart

[msc545]

Oops - didn't answer the question. Yes, it is treatable, mostly with time and supportive psychotherapy, and a bit of luck as well. With the exception of a medication that is used to reduce nightmares, most PTSD symptoms do not respond much to Psychiatric meds, so we are back to talk therapy which over time seems to be fairly effective. Keep in mind that because there is government money available for treatment, people create all sorts of schemes and gimmicks that purport to treat PTSD, but are really only designed to extract money from the government.

[pixie215]

you dont heal, you manage it. its something you will live with for the rest of your life, as someone with it myself. you will never heal from it you can only learn to cope and manage it, good days and bad days depending on the trauma you have been through, mine has been extensive since childhood, including watching family members die. therapy may or may not help, depends on how you interpret the help offered if it indeed helps or not, but coping skills no matter if you learn them on your own or from a therapist and a huge part of it

[skytatoe]

Talking to you I would never have guessed you've been through such rough times, you're really wholesome and on the up and up. Im so sorry you had to go through those things, much respect on staying strong too

[pixie215]

@skytatoe thank you

[WhatTheHeckkkk]

Years to learn how to manage it and cope with it, but depending on the individual and the trauma, you never truly “heal.”
Specialized therapy for your PTSD and medication would be most effective for “healing” you faster.

[Mofunfour20]

I just strengthened my body and mind. Knowing that I can handle anything makes the past seem like normal experiences to learn from instead of something traumatic. The gym did more for me than talking to a therapist

[ChrisMaster69]

You need to have specialised counselling and assessments on the PTSD the individual has.

Its about learning to live with not healing, for the majority it’s about not coping and getting through each day at a time.

[AliceW87]

Suffered with it not knowing what it was for 25 years, it's taken me 6 years to sort of get a good beat on things once I realised how to deal with it all.

[dustybiker]

You don’t. It’s a switch that gets flipped inside of you. You can learn to handle episodes that makes them a but easier, but will stay a fight you deal with for the rest of your life.

[dustybiker]

*bit

[Hellraiser1984]

I'm starting therapy we use talk and emdr. It's not going to be over in a month it may take years.

[annabananna]

I did edmr therapy which helped a lot.

[thrombis]

It never really stops. You deal every day.

[Anonymous]

I ended up taking medicines for anxiety attacks..

[Anonymous]

Therapy? Lol

[Anonymous]

still haven't