there are many steps. the first is to seek professional help. you have to get to know your triggers very well if you want to get better.

personally i don't think you can totally get rid of it BUT i know that it can be dealt with and put in it's place so you can move forward in life.

PTSD is extremely painful and confusing. sorry for your friend's misfortune, and you too if you have PTSD.

YES! you can get rid of it. the trick is finding a psychologist that works in psychosomatic therapy. There are several programs out there. Check out these two books: Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE) by David Berceli. I started with Waking the Tiger and have been learning how to meditate and working with some of the exercises in these books and some my psychologist gave me and I can't believe how much better I am! please try it. its like a miracle to be released from PTSD

I am a therapist. I practice yoga-breath therapy. In 1984 I was quickly healed of years of emotional problems with yoga breathing. It changed my life and I became a therapist.

One of my clients was a former soldier who told me “I brought Vietnam home with me.” By his sixth yoga breathing session he said, “I no longer think about Vietnam.”

All emotional problems are a form of PTDS. Get into yoga breathing, and heal of emotional problems. Psychiatry doesn’t want you to know about this, that you can heal just be breathing in the right way. They are afraid it will invalidate psychiatry, as it should.

Yoga breathing is also known as “rebirthing” and “conscious breathing”. Find people who are called “rebirthers”. There’s plenty of information on the internet, key words: rebirthing, rebirthers, conscious breathing. When you do the breathing avoid taking any medication, it will diminish the efficacy of the breathing process.

Best wishes to you.
Nick

My wife and I (she having PTSD from childhood trauma) have learned the hard way that in any cricital emotional situation such as PTSD, as with many serious medical physical problems, it is very important to start reading whatever you can to educate yourself on the options for treatment. Get more than one opinion.

There are many different philosophies for counseling, and also different approaches in terms of medication, natural supplements, other physical/pschological approaches without medications, etc. For any of these, research it before you start and keep researching as you continue. If you start on medications, research how long the medication should normally be prescribed and be careful if the psych wants to continue past that normal duration, or wants to add other medications to handle side effects of the first. Coming off psych meds can be very traumatic itself, so just be careful before getting on that you're informed.

I can say that part of the process will be to work THROUGH the past trauma. It won't just go away by itself, but it can be worked through, using one or more approaches, depending on what works best for the individual.

Know that however long it takes, you can look forward to the years following the recovery to build a new and better life.

I dnt understand My doctor have told me i have Ptsd but it seems to be getting worst!
xx

I know I've improved remarkably. I know I will get all the way there. Yes, it's possible to recover fully from ptsd.

There's hope for everyone. Just wanted to let others know who feel like they will never be better. I know how that is. I just thought I would give hope to others, now that I can.

My experience of recovery is several steps.
First, I read books: "secret survivors", and also "courage to heal".

Second I saw a cognitive therapist who had expertise in the type of trauma, I had experienced. It is critical to see an expert. Someone who has made trauma their focus. If you ask them for their plan for treatment, the first word out of their mouth should be "safety" (Read Judith Hermans book). Beyond that they should have a clear plan.

Third: cognitive therapy is a good first choice: this is so because you will learn ways to challenge trauma thinking. This will not take away your pain, but it is a safe way to begin, and it takes the edge off.

Fourth, if your therapist recommends medication (antidepressants), look into it. I resisted terribly, and in the end took them because I was in such pain. To this day I believe that therapist saved my life. Again, make sure your psychiatrist specializes in trauma.

Fifth, COPING skills: you cannot possibly learn enough of them: a good place to start is DBT: dialectic behavior therapy: a therapy that focuses on how to regulate intense feelings...this will help with your pain. There is also art therapy coping skills, music coping sjkills, dance skills....but the more types of coping skills you learn, the better.

Then, finally, once you have learnt the cognitive therapy, the safety, and the coping skills well enough.......see a therapist who has >10 years of experience with your trauma, focuses on that type, and work with them to reexperience and heal from your trauma.

You must have a therapist with good boundaries...be wary of those who dont!!!!!

It takes YEARS if your trauma is a childhood trauma, but it is worth it.
Yes, it is difficult. Very difficult.

But my pain is gone for most of every day. I feel JOY (I never knew what that felt like). I am beginning to find the path I should have found as a young adult. And my life feels good many days. I feelmexcited about my future on good days.

I still have bad days...and when I do its awful...but I know how to cope.

I have also learnt how to enjoy every day as much as possible, and not lose any moree of my life.

I am by NO means done. But I am already reaping the benefits of hard hard hard work (about 5)..

I owe my life to a brilliant cognitive therapist, two amazing trauma therapists, and a wonderful psychiatrist.

ESES

I've just joined this forum & I'm so pleased to find so many positive posts.
I too have read 'Waking the Tiger' & found it inspirational, it was like everything I'd been told falling into place, it's well worth a read. I've found meditation difficult but have stuck with it & after 6mths now find it particularly helps with sleep. I've also read 'Focusing' & have started this with my psychologist & I'm finding it very beneficial in accepting & exploring my negative feelings. I started EMDR therapy two weeks ago & although it's very intense I think I already feel different, it certainly crossed the barrier I had with trusting my psychologist.

I have had YEARS of therapy and had a hard time with flooding and parelleling thoughts triggering my PTSD when my children were young. I had two girls which "became" my sister and me. Crying, feelings of being a bad mother, black and blue marks and blood on my daughters shirt (from cutting a guinea pigs nail too short) were just some of the triggers that set me off, as did seeing nuns in their habit uniforms. Thank God they are grown and I have discovered EMDR therapy! Now I can talk about the orphanage and the horrible foster home I lived in. I can't say that I feel joy, but I sure am happy in the peace and tranquility of my backyard in the summer. I am 51 and finally feel like I have a life beyond PTSD.

I have heard great things about EMDR. My therapist keeps trying to get me to go through EMDR with the only local psychiatrist who does it. The problem is that he is a male who I don't know. Due to my trauma, I absolutely cannot do that. Maybe when I am more stable I will try to do it. For now, I have to use my art and my regular therapist and sexual assault therapist.

EMDR is not hypnosis. You are fully awake. My therapist asks questions about the specific area or feeling I am working on. He then clicks pens on either side of my head and I close my eyes and pretent I'm on a train and "see" the picture of whatever comes up. I do have a safety anchor, a visionary place, that I can put myself into in those times when I feel afraid. If you are afraid of the male therapist who knows the EMDR procedure, is there someone you trust who you could take along with you to the session? It's unbelievable how this works. I can actually "go back" to the orphanage without getting upset now. Currently I'm working on psychosomatic body memories which are creating severe head pain...my father used to knock me out with his fists. I can actually say it! I never told anybody before and now my therapist and this site are the only ones who know. Time for my anchor. Good luck.

Yes, I realize now that EMDR is not hypnosis. My therapist erroneously described it as such initially, but then I spoke to her about it in more detail and did a little research on my own. Still, apparently, this one psychiatrist is the only one who does EMDR in my area. I really do not know of anyone who I could take with me to my appointment since none of my friends or family know any of the details of my trauma and I feel the need to keep it that way. I see a new sexual assault therapist next week. Maybe, eventually, I can discuss EMDR with her. Right now, I feel so on edge and unstable that I am just trying to stay out of the hospital. I know from my research, that EMDR isn't done unless the person is relatively stable. Part of my issue now is that my old sexual assault counselor moved just as she and I were making progress and I was starting to get in touch with emotions related to the trauma. So, I have been kinda stuck with these raw emotions which I think is responsible for the recent panic attacks.
Well, good news is that I have a new sexual assault counselor and we'll see how it goes.

Trust takes a long time to establish. Hopefully you have some med to take while going through this process that can take the edge off. I've made a mistake in year's past by consuming my thoughts, and trying to work on myself all at once to get better. Don't forget to take a break when you need to, especially now without support, and put your mind on something else. Leave it alone and think and do something different,something fun.