Hits us all differently, depending on our mental strength, friends and family support system and mental Health support workers.
Mine is not Warfare, but long term abuse from a husband with an extreme personality problem due to a brain injury. He eventually suicided.
30 years on, I'm getting along pretty well, but silly things like the phone ringing, or someone dropping a tray of crockery, loud Exhausts on cars will all see me looking for a hiding place.
Men following me will also cause me a problem, as I have also become physically disabled, so I feel doubly vulnerable, even after all this time.
I do go out, I make myself, or I would quickly sink back into depression and hopelessness. I'm lucky insofar that my son has become my carer; although I worry about finding him a job before I drop off the twig! He will need something constructive to do, and be proficient at. Unfortunately, he only had one job, a seasonal one, before becoming my carer.
Unfortunately, Carers who are family, are very badly paid in UK, It works out to less than £2 an hour for 35+ hours per week, which is ridiculous when he can work far longer than that. One ear open all night, in case I fall out of bed or other such thing.
Its my son who is the carer and the recipient of the stated amount, I'm the disabled OAP he cares for. Unfortunately, its what the UK Government deems is sufficient for a family carer.
But it is not right. I cared for my mother but didn't need cash because I worked from home. So maybe I don't understand.
Mum was in hospital for
2.5 months with cancer and they phoned me at 2am to ask what medication mum took and I said what time is it because it's pitch black and the nurse said not to worry she will phone me later.
I was terrified hearing the phone ring.
So glad you have a wonderful son.
I don't understand politics but why don't they build more hospitals?
My friend died of a heart attack and I found him because I had the keys and I said to his best friend that I was glad he died like that and his friend got upset before I could explain that I took good care of him and he went out more than I did. He was 77 and I loved him because he was not depressing. He was still working not all the time but long story.
Now his best friend has got cancer and I phoned the Macmillan nurses and they told me he qualified for help from social services.
I cannot do anything because of my health and I am still grieving.
I'm not sure yet about my new GP. Having moved house and area to go straight into lockdown over Covid, I haven't met them yet! all appointments have until now been Zoom (which I don't have), or phone. The District Nurses came out to give us our Covid jabs.
Technically, we have enough hospitals, just not the Staff for them all, and that's down to training, or allowing Staff in from other countries, which, currently isn't happening.
My son can't work from home as he has no employable skills at present as he has been my carer since school. So I need to get him trained in something.
Difficult to get him a College placement as it is expensive, and also he has Dyslexia. that's why he will need a practical skill, such as metalwork.
Thank you for sharing and asking this important question.
It has been a very long time and I'm very sorry that it took so long for Veterans Affairs to acknowledge the impact.
I would like to hope that they are human and that they would understand that telling your story is reopening the wounds but also it is something very private and it is a privilege for them to be trusted with the story.
I would like to hope they would have people who are sensitive and understand trauma but I know that's not always the case.
It is understandable that telling the story would reopen the wounds.
My personal experience, not from war just physical and emotional abuse as well as other types of trauma, has been that talk therapy and / or medication isn't really helpful for me. I know that there are many people who found it helpful and I only speak from my personal experience.
We are unique individuals, with different things working for us so we would have different experiences.
Talk therapy made things worse and the symptoms intensified so I started looking into other approaches and found resources like Peter Levine and Bessel van der Kolk.
The idea is that the trauma gets trapped in the body and there are different types of work that can reach us on a deeper level.
I found a somatic experiencing private practitioner and I finally started seeing hope. It has been working for me but it is tough and I get physically sick at times. At first it feels worse before it gets better but I dare to talk about the events.
We use a combination of different methods including grounding techniques, special exercises, breathing techniques, energy work and many more.
We tried EFT, not sure if it worked. Shaking does seem to work.
During the session when the trauma memory (body memory) comes to the surface, it is pretty rough so I need to push through that phase and finish the exercises, even if I'm really unwell. After the session those symptoms get better but there are topics that need more than one session.
If there are new traumatic events in here & now, it is more challenging but important because they can trigger the unprocessed trauma from the past. So I do as much as my body and my circumstances allow then take breaks because it is too much.
I don't know if reading recovery books is something you would consider or if it's not for you.
I agree that bandaging the wound won't necessarily get rid of it.
I think it isn't one thing, one therapy but a number of things all together that help.
For example, I found I love stand up paddle boarding at sea and that's something that gives me energy and makes me closer to finding my inner self. It isn't a therapy but I find it helpful for my PTSD.
There are things that you are already doing, that are helping you, even in a small way. I remember you posted a picture of really old trees, that sounds like a special place.
I have P.T.S.D. and it's a nightmare. The flashbacks and when I was doing a voluntary job and we had the CDs on I sometimes would push for the next song as certain songs are a trigger.
Once I was joking about with a guy and I suddenly flinched and he was worried and I told him it was not his fault and I just had a trigger.
Medication has helped me because it does surpress the memories.
I try to distract myself when it happens and think of the nice people I have known. Even though they are dead they cared about me.
Thanks for sharing 👍I manage fairly well most of the time.
Currently it's been more of an effort to not get into the darkness. I'm having to revisit in detail my experiences to quantify and qualify my VA claim.
I had been coping pretty well for a long time. Up until I began the claim process..
That brought even back to front and center of my consciousness.
Hi. I the Sates a VA Claim is in .many was similar to a law suit of sorts. If you suffer service related issues you can file a claim stating the issues seeking care and compensation. Basically you say I am suffering from injuries sustain while in the service of my country now you owe me care, treatment and monetary compensation for the rest of my life. The VA says Prove it...And let the game begin.
I went through similar and I had help from the mental health team.
I kept calling the crisis team and another place because my new doctor is not a nice person. But doctors in my surgery come and go. I've had some lovely and fantastic doctors over the years so I am hoping she will leave.
I hope you receive this soon so that you are no longer in limbo.
Lazarus, look over this information about the vagus nerve and the brain in your search for managing PTSD. Thiamine is a component needed for their function but is often at a deficiency as certain food products such as raw fish, and shellfish, contain thiaminases - enzymes that destroy thiamine. For more information about thiaminases search on " Thiaminases and other Antithiamin Factors." Large quantities of tea, coffee interfere with it's absorption too. ,The thiamine forms sulbutiamine and TTFD are efficient passing through the blood/brain barrier. Magnesium is a component needed to convert thiamine to it's active form. It too is often found to be deficient in the diet The krispin link contains information showing causes for loss of magnesium. Loud noise, heat and stress are among those listed. Also found there are forms of magnesium and a calculation for daily needs. Magnesium L-threonate is a form that can pass the blood brain barrier and can be included with other forms in calculating daily elemental magnesium. Boron increases magnesium absorption. Search on "nothing boring about boron" for more info. Always consult your health care professional before using any supplement. Thank you for your service.
I will indeed check those links.. it all sounds interesting and makes sense. Thank you!
Hi, investigate recent work with Psychedelic therapy by military for trauma and ptsd. Apparently really good results with traumatised vets with MDMA and psilocybin. However you may be like me ie have just had to cope for 50 years. Good luck
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