Welcome Wolfstar/PTSD
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Charleston S.C.
Posts: 1,461
Welcome Wolfstar/PTSD
I would like to welcome you Wolfstar with open arms. I just know you are going to bring alot to this forum. I also notice you're going to help with grief/Loss and Mental Health. Don W
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 780
Don, thank you. I am looking forward to learning more about PTSD as it has affected me and also a dear loved one of mine.
Some information I found while searching on the web I thought might be of interest:
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that a person may develop after experiencing or witnessing an extreme, overwhelming traumatic event during which they felt intense fear, helplessness, or horror.
The dominant features of posttraumatic stress disorder are emotional numbing (i.e., emotional nonresponsiveness), hyperarousal (e.g., irritability, on constant alert for danger), and reexperiencing of the trauma (e.g., flashbacks, intrusive emotions).
Posttraumatic stress disorder is also referred to as shell shock or battle fatigue (when describing the disorder in combat veterans) and as postrape syndrome.
Trauma
A trauma is an intensely stressful event during which a person suffers serious harm or the threat of serious harm or death or witnesses an event during which another person (or persons) is killed, seriously injured, or threatened. Traumatic events are commonly classified as follows:
* Abuse
o Mental
o Physical
o Sexual
o Verbal (i.e., sexual and/or violent content)
* Catastrophe
o Harmful and fatal accidents
o Natural disasters
o Terrorism
* Violent attack
o Animal attack
o Assault
o Battery and domestic violence
o Rape
* War, battle, and combat
o Death
o Explosion
o Gunfire
Types of PTSD
There are three types of PTSD: acute, chronic, and delayed onset. In acute PTSD, symptoms last less than 3 months. In chronic PTSD, symptoms last 3 months or more. In delayed onset PTSD, symptoms first appear at least 6 months after the traumatic event.
Incidence and Prevalence
Lifetime prevalence is at least 1% and may be as high as 15% in the U.S. population. A National Comorbidity Survey conducted in the early 1990s found that women are twice as likely as men to experience PTSD. In high-risk groups, such as combat veterans and victims of violent crimes, prevalence ranges from 3% to 58%.
PTSD is more prevalent among war veterans than among any other group. The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Survey reports that approximately 25% of U.S. veterans, men and women, were suffering from PTSD in the early 1990s.
Men with PTSD identify combat and witnessing someone else's injury or death most often as the cause of their condition. Women identify physical attack or threat most often as the cause of their PTSD.
Someone with PTSD is at risk for developing other mental health disorders such as panic disorder, phobias, major depressive disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
PTSD commonly occurs in countries where long-term war, widespread social upheaval, and frequent natural disasters are prevalent.
more info to follow...
Some information I found while searching on the web I thought might be of interest:
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that a person may develop after experiencing or witnessing an extreme, overwhelming traumatic event during which they felt intense fear, helplessness, or horror.
The dominant features of posttraumatic stress disorder are emotional numbing (i.e., emotional nonresponsiveness), hyperarousal (e.g., irritability, on constant alert for danger), and reexperiencing of the trauma (e.g., flashbacks, intrusive emotions).
Posttraumatic stress disorder is also referred to as shell shock or battle fatigue (when describing the disorder in combat veterans) and as postrape syndrome.
Trauma
A trauma is an intensely stressful event during which a person suffers serious harm or the threat of serious harm or death or witnesses an event during which another person (or persons) is killed, seriously injured, or threatened. Traumatic events are commonly classified as follows:
* Abuse
o Mental
o Physical
o Sexual
o Verbal (i.e., sexual and/or violent content)
* Catastrophe
o Harmful and fatal accidents
o Natural disasters
o Terrorism
* Violent attack
o Animal attack
o Assault
o Battery and domestic violence
o Rape
* War, battle, and combat
o Death
o Explosion
o Gunfire
Types of PTSD
There are three types of PTSD: acute, chronic, and delayed onset. In acute PTSD, symptoms last less than 3 months. In chronic PTSD, symptoms last 3 months or more. In delayed onset PTSD, symptoms first appear at least 6 months after the traumatic event.
Incidence and Prevalence
Lifetime prevalence is at least 1% and may be as high as 15% in the U.S. population. A National Comorbidity Survey conducted in the early 1990s found that women are twice as likely as men to experience PTSD. In high-risk groups, such as combat veterans and victims of violent crimes, prevalence ranges from 3% to 58%.
PTSD is more prevalent among war veterans than among any other group. The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Survey reports that approximately 25% of U.S. veterans, men and women, were suffering from PTSD in the early 1990s.
Men with PTSD identify combat and witnessing someone else's injury or death most often as the cause of their condition. Women identify physical attack or threat most often as the cause of their PTSD.
Someone with PTSD is at risk for developing other mental health disorders such as panic disorder, phobias, major depressive disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
PTSD commonly occurs in countries where long-term war, widespread social upheaval, and frequent natural disasters are prevalent.
more info to follow...
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Charleston S.C.
Posts: 1,461
That is some great information Wolf. I've found that information is my number one toll dealing with PTSD. You can't change what happened but, you can change your perspective of it. The information like you posted helps to understand what is happening. Example, When I was having a real hard time, Morning Glory gave me some advice. She suggested a little at a time to revisit the event. She also warned me that it will be painful but, it won't last. In the past once I started feeling the pain I'd quit counseling and end up drinking. Knowing ahead of time helped me prepare and understand. One thing I've found interesting is the cause can be different but, the symptoms can be the same. Like some of my PTSD comes from Vietnam and physical and sexual abuse as a child. Yet I've talked here with people suffering from different events and we mention the same, unexplained fear, panic attacks.
Beyond the Ninth Wave
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 107
Chronic PTSD here. Just connected some dots last weekend. Interesting that I'm ok with it, at least for now. I'm aware that there may come a time when I'll not feel as ok & I'm giving myself permission to go with that flow when/if it happens.
It's not that I'm numbing the feelings, it's more that I've been given grace after grace over the last twenty-some years which has helped me do a lot of inner work prior to connecting the dots. Still a long way to go, but HP has so lovingly brought me one lesson after another & stuck by me through all the mess of learning them. Now, unlike years past, there is no doubt in my mind that I'm loved & necessary, that I have purpose & (my own pov) that all I've endured was necessary in order to serve the higher good. I may not always know exactly in what ways, but that's not as important as it used to be.
Does this make any sense? It feels a little odd that I'm not upset & in pain over this, but I truly do just feel peaceful. Almost everything that contributed to the PTSD was via my alcoholic mother & I forgave her already - this just feels like another thing that's already been covered.
*I just realized I probably posted this in the wrong place - grrrr about unorganized threads! lol. Feel free to shuffle this elsewhere if need be.
It's not that I'm numbing the feelings, it's more that I've been given grace after grace over the last twenty-some years which has helped me do a lot of inner work prior to connecting the dots. Still a long way to go, but HP has so lovingly brought me one lesson after another & stuck by me through all the mess of learning them. Now, unlike years past, there is no doubt in my mind that I'm loved & necessary, that I have purpose & (my own pov) that all I've endured was necessary in order to serve the higher good. I may not always know exactly in what ways, but that's not as important as it used to be.
Does this make any sense? It feels a little odd that I'm not upset & in pain over this, but I truly do just feel peaceful. Almost everything that contributed to the PTSD was via my alcoholic mother & I forgave her already - this just feels like another thing that's already been covered.
*I just realized I probably posted this in the wrong place - grrrr about unorganized threads! lol. Feel free to shuffle this elsewhere if need be.
fire dancer
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: no matter where u go there u are...co
Posts: 489
hey neasa---yeah there is a ptsd forum, but i think it's ok in this thread
wolf- haven't seen ya since i first got on here, think you were the first thread i posted on........don't know if i've just missed you or if you've been absent, either way good to see ya here
yep, trauma sucks!
& yep, we can work thru it (thru being the key word)
good info..........has anyone tried EMDR?.....a type of therapy that i did a few years ago, worth looking into
my best advice, haveing been there, is........remember/remind that you (or other person) is not there now!.........keep your eyes open..SEE where you are, the here & now & remember that you are safe, even tho it does not feel like it........fix your eyes on something & hold on!........ground yourself how ever you can.....carry something in your pocket that you can grab on to & hold to create a focus point of sanitey.......& let it move thru you, don't fight it, just hold on.
wolf- haven't seen ya since i first got on here, think you were the first thread i posted on........don't know if i've just missed you or if you've been absent, either way good to see ya here
yep, trauma sucks!
& yep, we can work thru it (thru being the key word)
good info..........has anyone tried EMDR?.....a type of therapy that i did a few years ago, worth looking into
my best advice, haveing been there, is........remember/remind that you (or other person) is not there now!.........keep your eyes open..SEE where you are, the here & now & remember that you are safe, even tho it does not feel like it........fix your eyes on something & hold on!........ground yourself how ever you can.....carry something in your pocket that you can grab on to & hold to create a focus point of sanitey.......& let it move thru you, don't fight it, just hold on.
Guest
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 780
(((((wolflet))))))
Good to see you and thanks for a very informative post. I love your suggestion to carry something in your pocket, something to focus on a point of sanity. Excellent suggestion and I will follow that.
still holding on and working thru it...Neasa, wish I could connect the dots and find out where my head is...after all these years it still troubles me. I fear that seeing my father's body "arranged" in the casket left an impression on me that I can't shake---and what I fear most is my own demise.
Thanks for your post, and please come back and post again, you are in the right forum!
Good to see you and thanks for a very informative post. I love your suggestion to carry something in your pocket, something to focus on a point of sanity. Excellent suggestion and I will follow that.
still holding on and working thru it...Neasa, wish I could connect the dots and find out where my head is...after all these years it still troubles me. I fear that seeing my father's body "arranged" in the casket left an impression on me that I can't shake---and what I fear most is my own demise.
Thanks for your post, and please come back and post again, you are in the right forum!
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