Post Traumatic Stress Support Group

Hi group members,

This is the first time I have taken advantage of an online support group so be gentle with me!

I am a mature aged (59) but young at heart married woman, in full time employment. My beloved husband experienced a traumatic event at work in Sept 2010 and has been off work on full pay since that time and was diagnosed with PTSD in November 2010, and later with a Major Depressive Episode in April 2011.

He is seeing a Psyhcologist for ongoing psychological support which includes CBT and he also has a supportive Dr.

We both have a mental health background and my husband was working in an acute mental health facility when the incident happened.

His recovery is taking much longer than I thought it would and he has not really made significant improvement. He has become isolative, suspicious and has lost a lot of confidence.

I am finding it challenging to say the least! and would appreciate some words of wisdom from those you are in a similar position.

I do not have local supports.

Cheers,

Augusta

Dear Augusta, Welcome and hello! My dear girl, i suffer because of my husbands injury, he is bad , it is all physical and depression and anger, so there is nothing you can tell me i wouldn't relate to. It is so difficult when the hubby is ill, you feel alone well you are not alone anymore we are here for you and this is a group of very caring people. I think mabey you should try to get out more and do something nice for yourself, he can't nurture you from what i think is going on, so you must love yourself and pamper yourself. I have to get out and do things that are fun for me or i would go nuts if i didn't have my time out.anytime you would like to post about anything you would like, no one will judge you here, you can pm me if you want that is cicking below my picture. Well dear i am sure you will get many good ideas and help so please check for the answers, love Debi

There is much that I am still learning about PTSD, and I have yet to get a proper diagnosis of it...I do know that it stays with a person forever, your husband will never be "cured" of it...which is unfortunate. I think healing is different for everyone...it has been over six years since my trauma and my symptoms have not gotten remarkably better. I understand them better, but they still occur. How does your husband feel about his sypmtoms?

I do think you could benefit from counseling as well, I imagine it is not easy to be in your position, and you deserve support too!

Hello Augusta, I want to welcome you to the group. I will say that I am not in the same circumstance as you, but still sympathize greatly. It is so hard to watch someone we love suffer so, and not know how to help.

I appears that it hasn't even been a year since the trauma he experienced, so take heart that in the ptsd world, that is a very short time but with therapy and hopefully the right medication for the depression, he will start to make progress.

I agree that counselling for yourself would be a good thing, and taking care of your needs is essential. I hope you have outside support and are able to get time away to destress and yes, pamper you. If you just want to talk at any time, we are all just a pm away! Karen

Hello Augusta. Glad you decided to join us here in the PTSD support group. MDJ is actually the first on-line support group I have taken advantage of and it has really been helpful. Unfortunately, PTSD is not something that can be cured with a pill such as a sinus infection or cold and then goes away. The person with PTSD lives with it for the rest of their life. There are medications that can make it easier to deal with and quite possibly your husband could benefit from these. I do agree that you should seek counseling for yourself and find something outside of the home to help you destress. When I found out I had to live with the PTSD, I went on line and researched it as much as I could and eventually was able to find an online site with books about PTSD to help explain it better. If you want the name of this website, just send me a PM, and I'll be happy to forward you the website info. Once again, we're glad you're here. Midget53

Hello Augusta, Welcome to the MDJ PTSD group you will find that this group does give out great advice and we are very supportive of our memebers. I feel very sorry for you and agree with one of the posting about self counseling that is a great idea and of course keep coming back to this group. Again glad you decided to join our group.

Gaila