PTSD/SeekYour Inner Strength

Now that we have admitted we have a problem and accepted the label of PTSD now what? I would like for you to think about your inner strength. You might be chuckling and saying I don't know you or I would know you have no strength. I have said that very thing many times and wonder why people would think I was strong. I always felt if they really knew how afraid I felt they would know I have no strength inside me at all. Inside it is just fear and sleepless nights. But the biggest fear is that the trauma will never leave. I think others see a strength that seems impossible to see for ourselves sometimes. It takes strength to keep getting up every day putting one foot in front of the other. You reach deep inside yourself and hang on. One day at a time. You made it through one time you can do it again in order to get better. It does not mean that everything will be easy. But it does mean that you will keep doing everything you can to put the haunting
memories to rest and reclaim your joy. Determination to get better is half the battle. You are worth the investment to reclaim the life meant to be yours. You are a survivor that is strong and courageous. Tell yourself that however many times you need to, even write it down and read it when needed. Remember feelings will pass but the fact is you are valuable and loved. Do whatever it takes to keep that inner strength going. Don't let anything or anyone steal the wonderful life you are meant to have.

PTSD/Don't be afraid of a label.

I was out with the flu last week but thanks for coming again for step number two in our recovery from PTSD. In the first step we confessed you have a problem now let's talk about the label. No one really wants to be labeled anything that might cause others to look at them funny or at least we think they are. If you went to a doctor, he/she gives you a Rx for medication told you to take it, come back in two weeks and walked out of the room. You would be left to wonder what is wrong with you. You want them to tell you what is going on, give it a label, and then you will be able to know the best treatment possible. So what is it that makes us run from the label PTSD? What will people think? We go to someone to help us understand what is going on with us. Then what do we want to do? Sometimes we want to run a whole different direction because that is not what you wanted to hear. The label might make you feel like there is no hope. The individual that gave
you the label is not trying to do harm. They are trying to help you understand what is going on inside your mind. It helps the trained person to know where to go now. They are saying you are not crazy as you might feel like you are sometimes. They are saying you are fixable, this is what is going on, now let's work on it. It is like the medical doctor giving you a name for your physical condition. PTSD is not shouting to people you are a bad person. It is not saying you are weak. It is saying you have great trauma in your life. Are you ready to stop running and work on stopping those nightmares? Are you ready to take control of your life? Then don't be afraid to except the label and let someone help you. Let them walk you through it and put it all to rest. You don't have to shout "I have PTSD" from the roof top but you also don't have to run from it any longer either. Stop and look at it for what it is.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

For the next few weeks I would like to give you steps I believe will help you to recover from PTSD. I do think that recovery is not always easy and quick. Some of it takes time and a lot of effort on your part. Let's start by talking about what PTSD is. PTSD has around for a very long time. It has been called many things over the years. As early as World War I there is mention of "shell shock", men waking in the night screaming, jumping out of bed and wondering where they are, to realize they are reliving the battle the fought days or years before. In World War II the term was upgraded to "combat fatigue". Now we are calling the same thing PTSD. Are we just talking about a person that wakes one night with a nightmare? Not at all or everyone would have PTSD it is more severe than that. According to the Mayo Clinic article I read it said "PTSD is a mental health condition that's triggered by terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks,
nightmares and sever anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thought about the event." This does not only happen to war veterans it is also true in cases of abuse, or any terrifying event. The event does not stop playing in the mind even when trying to sleep. You feel like you are right there in that moment over and over again. I have discussed with our son who has been deployed four times about the waking in the night with night tare to his surprise I have the same thing from the abuse. As I have struggled to get better I have almost come out of my bed screaming with fear. I was sure I was in that situation at that moment. It would take my husband a good while to reassure me I was not. It is not a peaceful way to live. PTSD is awful to live with however you got it. Join me for the next couple of months to see if we can work through this together. You are not alone. I want to leave you with the first step to think about this week as you go about your life.
The first step is admitting you have a problem. If you keep telling yourself there is nothing wrong with you than you will not get the help needed. Take the first step to recovery and CONFESS YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. At first you might want to admit it quietly to yourself for a few days. That is a great start. Come next week and take that second step with me. I'll talk to you later.