PTSD

[Patcha]

Hello! I ended up here while looking for a PTSD support group. My psychiatrist has diagnosed me with PTSD stemming from work I did in the 90's. This has been a pretty recent development and I'm still working out what to do about it. Cheers.

[monkey_magic]

Hi Patcha,

Welcome to the beyond blue forums.

Ive been writing here for close to three years now connecting with others. It's a place of shared experiences and support.

Can I ask what u did for work in the 90's that gave you the PTSD. By the sounds of it you've lived with it for a long time then.

There's a lot of ppl who write in that have PTSD and a whole section dedicated to it if you wanted to have a read.

Is there anything that you can do that helps you with the symptoms?

This is your thread now so feel free to write as much or as little as u like and others are sure to jump in.

MM

[Patcha]

Thanks for the welcome. I worked in operational/administrative support in the investigation of war crimes and with police on the investigation of pedophiles and child sexual abuse. As well as some things that happened in my personal life from escaping an abduction attempt, an assault and very recently I had an accident and came very close to drowning.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Patcha,

Welcome to the forums and thank you for being here. I'm sorry to hear about what you've had to go through, and yet glad that you're in touch with a psychiatrist now and getting some support.

With finding a support group, would you be open to sharing what state you are in? You don't need to share that if you're not comfortable - but that way I can try and share some links for you on finding one.

If you'd rather not share, perhaps it might be worth asking your psychiatrist? Sometimes even local GP's are aware of services in the area.

I hope that you find it helpful being here; feel free to ask any other questions if you want to.

RT

[Patcha]

I am in NSW.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Patcha,

Just an fyi; I don't have any experience with these -

Central Coast Mental Health Service NSW 1800 011 511. Statewide service that do referrals and have info on different mental health services.

https://www.grow.org.au/find-a-group/

https://www.onedoor.org.au/services/support-groups

https://www.sjog.org.au/our-locations/st-john-of-god-richmond-hospital/news/news/2018/07/16/08/59/ex...

https://www.cclhd.health.nsw.gov.au/services/mental-health/adult-mental-health/

I wish you the best of luck in finding one.

RT

[monkey_magic]

Hi again Patcha,

Wow, that sounds like interesting work!

Well done for escaping the abduction attempt and surviving the assault and near drowning.

You're life sounds like a very full on one, one I'd love to read about in a book to be honest. How interesting- i hope I'm not crossing any lines by saying that.

You're life has also been traumatic by the sounds of it since you've developed PTSD.

Intense therapy could be a great help, journaling, exercise, or a group support like romantic_th3if suggested. Sometimes we just have to find that right person/s to pull us through.

Is the psychiatrist a help?

I too almost drowned, as a child though & was assaulted-  not too serious.

Hope to hear back from you.

MM

[Patcha]

Thanks for those links. Much appreciated.

[Patcha]

No luck so far finding a support group. How do you even address it in 1:1 therapy? I have no idea what will be a trigger so it's impossible to prepare for in advance. I'm at a pretty low ebb right now because someone posted something on FB about the political situation in Chile. When I worked for an NGO in the 90's, it was the era of Pinochet and seeing the post made everything hit me like a tidal wave. That was three days ago and I'm still not functioning too well. What do I do? There is no way out. It's an impossible situation.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Patcha,

It's good to hear back from you. I'm sorry that you haven't had much luck with the support groups. I did search high and low but unfortunately a lot of them go through word of mouth or only advertise locally.

Is therapy something that you are open to?

From my own experiences, it is so hard to prepare for triggers - at least in the beginning when everything is so new and you're not aware of what might hit you. At the same time though, it is possible to manage your reactions so that when you do get triggered, it feels less intense. This is a big part of where therapy can help.

Would be great to hear your thoughts on this; I personally am an advocate for therapy but it is really up to you as to if this is something you want to consider.

RT