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PTSD and trauma

A space for discussing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), domestic abuse, sexual abuse and other trauma. Please note some content may be distressing.

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A_Tech PTSD for Medical and First Responders
  • replies: 276

Hi, Well obviously this my situation. I was hoping to find others here that might have a similar background to chat with, it can be so hard to talk about this stuff with non-med people (and I mean no disrespect, it's just often graffic or upsetting t... View more

Hi, Well obviously this my situation. I was hoping to find others here that might have a similar background to chat with, it can be so hard to talk about this stuff with non-med people (and I mean no disrespect, it's just often graffic or upsetting to others). Im a 40 year old female that has spent the last 10years in the State Trauma Hospital as an Anaesthetic Technician. My PTSD was brought about after years of exposure to shocking traumas, deaths, and no support from management. I would love to hear from anyone that has a similar story, or just wants to chat. Cheers

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EverlastingDaisy Affect on relationships after emotional and mental abuse
  • replies: 5

Hi there, 2 years ago I was finally able to exit an emotionally/mentally abusive relationship that carried on for 7 years. Around the same time I was diagnosed with ADD. My female friends were supportive of me leaving my abuser however the entire soc... View more

Hi there, 2 years ago I was finally able to exit an emotionally/mentally abusive relationship that carried on for 7 years. Around the same time I was diagnosed with ADD. My female friends were supportive of me leaving my abuser however the entire social group carried on like nothing had ever happened. Despite attempting to articulate my feelings, my friends could not understand that his presence and continued association, no matter how small, was harmful to me, and took my absence personally. Long story short the friendships fractured and I lost my social circle. I am not sure how to explain the breakdown in relationships to other mutual friends. I neither wish to vilify my old friends or make myself look like a victim. Also bringing up the aspect of abuse seems to make people VERY uncomfortable and they shut down. I am lucky to have a great partner but without my friends I do feel very lonely at times, having lost my social circle. I feel very broken and misunderstood. No to mention the confusion trying to decipher which actions of mine are due to trauma behaviours or ADD symptoms. The lack of support and losing my friendship circle post abuse has honestly been just as painful, perhaps even worse than the abuse itself and there seems to be very little literature about how to cope with this scenario. It seems to assume that your friends will choose you over the abuser and rally to your support.

Sarah_M Struggling to cope knowing brother brutally murdered ex-girlfriend
  • replies: 9

Hi, I am new to online forums so I am not sure where to start. I have been working hard for the last 20 years to recover from a childhood of neglect and emotional abuse, and it’s consequences including severe anxiety and depression. In some ways I am... View more

Hi, I am new to online forums so I am not sure where to start. I have been working hard for the last 20 years to recover from a childhood of neglect and emotional abuse, and it’s consequences including severe anxiety and depression. In some ways I am doing okay now - I am married and have a son and getting back into some work after 5 years raising my son (and dealing with post natal depression and anxiety). But I struggle with a dark family secret - 10 years ago my brother brutally raped and murdered his ex girlfriend. I feel such intense shame and anger and sadness. I didn’t have a close relationship with my brother growing up (he was quite a selfish and cruel older brother). I haven’t visited him in prison because I feel too overwhelmed with anger towards him. I have spoken to psychologists over the years and it has help quite a lot. But I am really seeking a way to share the struggles with others who are in a similar situation...It is hard to talk to friends about this due to the shame attached. I keep going over in my head what he did to his ex girlfriend - and how he has shattered the lives of her family and friends.

goodlistener85 My story relating to complex ptsd and severe dysthymia
  • replies: 7

Hi all, my name is Adam and i am 34 yrs old. Been wanting to post for a while now. I haven't worked now for 10 months due to mental illness. I was recently diagnosed with cptsd and severe dysthymia. I also suffer from ocd and have had a psychogenic o... View more

Hi all, my name is Adam and i am 34 yrs old. Been wanting to post for a while now. I haven't worked now for 10 months due to mental illness. I was recently diagnosed with cptsd and severe dysthymia. I also suffer from ocd and have had a psychogenic often severe stutter since age 9. Between the ages of 8-16 my then stepfather was extremely abusive and aggressive to my mum, myself and my bro and sis. I suffered extreme physical, mental and psychological abuse on a daily basis for 8 yrs. I pretended for 20 years that i was ok even tho i knew i was drowning in severe anxiety and depression. Working is and has always been extremely difficult for me as i am so easily triggered. I have only seeked a psychiatrist a few months ago and i am going to a new one next month. I am going to apply for the dsp when i get a psychiatrist who i am comfortable with and willing to assist me. I have become extremely well educated re the dsp. Thankyou for reading. I am looking to hopefully meet some new friends on here

Peter0LX Introduction Peter0LX - Psychotherapy treatment for mild complex trauma 
  • replies: 4

Hello All, I was diagnosed with mild complex trauma about 3 months ago. I have had some really helpful psychotherapy which has made a big difference in my life fairly quickly. The main source of my problems was bullying and neglect by my father from ... View more

Hello All, I was diagnosed with mild complex trauma about 3 months ago. I have had some really helpful psychotherapy which has made a big difference in my life fairly quickly. The main source of my problems was bullying and neglect by my father from when I was very young. I had some previous psychotherapy 20 years ago which more or less only scratched the surface but at least it prepared me for my recent therapy. I worked as hard as I could to get the most out of my current therapy. What we have achieved is identify some significant painful episodes in my life, stir them up to articulate what I would have really been feeling at the time but have never put into words before, and then disconnect the painful emotions from my memories of those past events. There is more to it than what I have just said here. I just want to say that it has worked very well. I liken the situation to me being a river, or perhaps river rapids, jammed with floating logs which represent painful memories. The therapy has enabled me to find the main hidden snagged log that was holding all the other logs back. Once we freed up that particular log, all the other logs started flowing downstream again. During later sessions, I felt that the now freely drifting logs jostled for position so that we could grab and deal with the most important ones. My treatment has been very interesting and worthwhile. That's all for the moment.

MO64 The pointlessness of even trying
  • replies: 3

My wife is my world, I know I am insane with the depth and unconditional nature of my love for her. I have been with my wife since 1998 and quickly learnt that she was traumatized from a childhood full of abuses, sexual, physical and psychological. E... View more

My wife is my world, I know I am insane with the depth and unconditional nature of my love for her. I have been with my wife since 1998 and quickly learnt that she was traumatized from a childhood full of abuses, sexual, physical and psychological. Even to this day. Due to the ongoing nature of the psychological abuse, it is difficult to compensate for the unjust treatment my wife receives from her own family. Which is primarily due to the manipulation of her mother, telling her children to stay away from their mother due to her being dangerous and crazy. Which they have done. Her mother has found a way to commit the perfect crime and continues to do so. From my perspective, my wife's mother has damaged her to such an extent that her children have seen aspects of their mother that they didn't understand, that her mother caused and her mother used that behaviour to reinforce the illusion that my wife is dangerous. From my understanding of psychiatry, this is the typical type of situation patients have always been in. The victim suffers a trauma from a family member or care giver. That trauma is then denied by the guilty party and the victim is silenced through what ever means is currently acceptable as humane by the psychiatric profession. The reality is that the psychiatric profession have evolved to the point where they are literally above the law. My wife is currently being held against her will under a Section 30 and Section 46. My wife and I have spent the past six weeks coming off all the prescribed medication due to it possibly causing a new symptom of migraine storms. I have been caring for her palliatively without complaint or support. My wife had successfully come off all her medication and the migraines stopped. We were at the stage of getting her diet sorted when a kidney infection presented. She has a long history of renal issues due to the chronic abuse she suffered. My wife presented at ED, due to a possible reaction to medication she was put on 2 days earlier. My wife was in the middle of an antibiotic course for the infection. My wife's symptoms were interpreted as psychiatric. She is now a prisoner and getting worse. Both psychiatrically and medically. Fact: Psych patients have no rights. If you have a underlying medical condition with neurological symptoms, it will be misdiagnosed if you have a pre-existing mental health issue. You are also 350% more likely to die from oesophageal cancer if you have a mental health issue. Pointless

Concerned_mother Hi there. I’m new here. My name is Jo and I really need to talk about PTSD
  • replies: 1

Hi. I was diagnosed with PTSD early 2000’s. My particular PTSD is a result of childhood abuse and adult violence. I’ve had loads of therapy over the years which has been a wonderful help. I’ve tried medications, meditation and a bunch of other things... View more

Hi. I was diagnosed with PTSD early 2000’s. My particular PTSD is a result of childhood abuse and adult violence. I’ve had loads of therapy over the years which has been a wonderful help. I’ve tried medications, meditation and a bunch of other things. Mostly it’s all good. But on occasion and I never know when, I am affected by something that sends me into an internal rage. On the outside I can appear calm or I can be aggressive in a way that causes my partner to become nervous. I have never been physically violent towards anyone but the energy I give off and the crazy manic head stuff going on inside me is definitely harmful to others around me. Does anyone else ever have this happen?? I feel so alone with it all

EPett Have no idea how to start this conversation
  • replies: 26

I can't stop drinking. I try, but it doesn't work. My parents are both gone, 2 brothers are gone, one from Cancer and the other from suicide. 2 sisters that are irrational and don't care, 1 brother that drops so many pills he thinks he is the normal ... View more

I can't stop drinking. I try, but it doesn't work. My parents are both gone, 2 brothers are gone, one from Cancer and the other from suicide. 2 sisters that are irrational and don't care, 1 brother that drops so many pills he thinks he is the normal one.. Another brother that thinks socializing is drinking.. where do I go from here. I made a mistake and threw in a job and let go of my life. I was always in control even though I was drinking every day. How did I let my life get like this

LozzieLouise Partner's past trauma impacting our present.
  • replies: 1

I'm in a relationship with a guy who has been through a lot of trauma at the hands of his mother when he was a child. As an adult, he experiences severe depression, attachment issues, PTSD, anxiety, night terrors and dissociation (just to name a few)... View more

I'm in a relationship with a guy who has been through a lot of trauma at the hands of his mother when he was a child. As an adult, he experiences severe depression, attachment issues, PTSD, anxiety, night terrors and dissociation (just to name a few). When he gets close to people emotions, good and bad, get the better of him. So he tends to try to push people away to avoid all emotion all together. Now that he's let me in, he's letting himself feel everything which includes all the bad stuff too. We love each other so much and we can be so happy together but when he has particularly bad night terrors or dissociates he immediately tries to push me away & starts saying things like "this will never last", "this won't work", "I'm always going to be like this". I don't know what to do. He's made a huge choice in letting me in, trusting me and sharing everything that he is with me but now he's in a state where he's giving up on us and I think he's trying to shut his emotions off again so he doesn't have to feel. How can I help him see that we can make this work? And how can I help him get through this pain that he's been dealing with for so long? He's so determined to do it all by himself without help from anyone. He's such an amazing person, I don't want to lose him. Am I being selfish?

Sycofearie Not really sure where to start
  • replies: 8

Hi there, I am a 28 year old female and I have been suffering from depression, anxiety and a number of eating disorders since I was a teenager. All as a result of childhood abuse that I have never really come to terms with. I have seen a few psycholo... View more

Hi there, I am a 28 year old female and I have been suffering from depression, anxiety and a number of eating disorders since I was a teenager. All as a result of childhood abuse that I have never really come to terms with. I have seen a few psychologists over the years, but I have never tried medications. I tend to be pretty terrible at therapy. My depression makes me lethargic and my concentration is highly problematic. I really want to get better, but I am my own worst enemy. I self sabotage in almost everything I do. I have only been getting worse over the last few years and it has finally reached it's peak. I am more depressed, anxious and unhealthy than I have ever been and I am not sure where to go from here. I want to see someone, and I am seriously considering medication, even though I have been trying to avoid it. I don't see how I can anymore. My avoidance issues are largely why I am currently in this mess. I would love some advice, or even some support. I have a negligible support network, other than my husband. I find it incredibly difficult to make friends and when I do, I often mess it up. I withdraw and I lock myself away for months on end, where the only person I interact with on a personal level is my husband, unless I absolutely have to see other people. I am trying to find a creative outlet in writing, but only creative writing. I am awful at journals, partly why my therapy has always been a bit of a mess. Anyway, I am so happy that I found this site. I honestly feel like I need some like-minded people around to realize that there are far more people going through this than just myself. Thanks so much, Fearie

Lumlo EMDR
  • replies: 5

Hi, I am considering EMDR therapy at the moment. Has anyone had EMDR therapy? Can you tell me if it was effective? Was it distressing? How many sessions it took? How did you feel afterwards? Thanks f o r any insights you can share with me?

Hi, I am considering EMDR therapy at the moment. Has anyone had EMDR therapy? Can you tell me if it was effective? Was it distressing? How many sessions it took? How did you feel afterwards? Thanks f o r any insights you can share with me?