Hi all. I'm not new to PTSD, having had my diagnosis for some 9 years now (has it been that long already? Scary.) But I'm in the middle of what I'm tentatively labelling a 'relapse' (but what the psych is swearing was simply PTSD all along) and have discovered this forum after researching a bit more into the disorder.

I'm from Perth, Western Australia. I love it here, was born here, and go bushwalking often. My partner Glen has been with me for 3 1/2 years, a big achievement for him since we've also shared many surgeries (on my behalf, sadly) and other hiccups in the relationship together. PTSD is a pretty big hiccup! I hope that he can come and find support here too.

Um, otherwise... hmm... I love chocolate, a lot of music, friends that can put up with me piking on them for six months straight, wildflower identification (I sound like a right dork but hey, I'm young...I've got the rest of my life to try and find out what not being a dork is like), researching things, writing - for pleasure and profit, and many other things.

Erm.
That's it I think for now!

Ravenari, I am new to this too and new to my diagnosis. (I was diagnosed 2 years ago. Prior to that I was diagnosed with major depression with psychosis and a list of others. When I received this diagnosis I was highly skeptical (yea, just give me 1 more label for my insanity). My last hospitalization just a couple of weeks ago has forced me to start accepting that this is something I can't just discipline myself out of. I need help and need to stay with the help I find. I have a tendency to not trust people easily and so I push people far away. I am glad that this opportunity exists. God Bless you and all the rest of us as we fight this "thing" or should I say "accept this thing"

hello rav, and seek!! welcome to the forum. you'll find it's a great place!

Hi Rav nice to meet you. I've had it for a long time to but just latley decided to get the right kind of help, Like this place:)

Hi Ravenari,

Welcome!

Hi Ravenari!

Welcome and hello!

Bec

Hi Rav and SL,

Welcome to the forum, and glad you found us. Rav, relapse is part of PTSD, no doubt about it. How often we relapse and to what extent resides with our initial healing from our trauma. If we haven't healed, then the relapse could be worst than the initial outburst, though also less. Healing is also one thing, and mere exposure to another trauma simply rejuvinated PTSD (as it is a permanent physiological change within our brain) once again to show its face, telling you that once again you must heal from this newer trauma, or most recent traumatic events / since last time.

The relapse doesn't *really* surprise me, I guess, just frustrating in many respects, especially as it's affecting my ability to work so much (that, after a current knee reconstruction and possible Ross River which I'm being tested for now, doesn't make me an ideal candidate to start the retail position I'm starting tomorrow! But we'll see if I can make it work.)

As I first started therapy at 15 (when I received my diagnosis, lucky they caught it early!) I was with a counsellor who probably wasn't that qualified for fairly intensive PTSD symptoms, while she was empathic, compassionate, and put herself through PTSD courses, we only really started to scrape at the tip of the iceberg, and even though I saw her for 3 years, I knew that when I stopped therapy it wasn't over.

But I enjoyed a slight 'reprieve', while my anxiety got worse, a lot of the flashbacks went under the surface and mainly manifested in vague feelings of fear or apprehension, and a whole lot of nightmares. But now I'm 24, and things have come to a head again. So I'm seeing a psychologist who seems well-equipped to deal with PTSD (I'm up to my fourth session with her, I think), and basically making sure that I know I'm not alone. I have this terrible and unsurprising habit of distancing myself just before I mentally crash, and then I hate myself for being all alone. Silly. So when I'm not too unstable, I make sure I DO have a support network. Then I don't sabotage myself too badly.

Probably more than anyone needs to know, but I'm actually very excited about this forum. No one else in my life - bar one person - has had PTSD, and she lives a long way away and hasn't really confronted it. So it's good to meet other people who are prepared or are doing the hard long slog that it is to heal and make our lives better.

Rav, I like your attitude, because your prepared to work hard to get into life once again, without symptoms holding you back. Well done.

The symptoms certainly don't help! I have my bad days where I stop trying, and my bad weeks where I may alienate people, but for the most part... I know that there's a better life out there for me, and that's what I want more than anything else.

Though ask me after a flashback, and you might get a different response! But that's always the way. I think I'm lucky, in that sense, to have had my diagnosis for a while. Once you know what you're up against, it's easier to have a plan to manage it, and find a better sense of life satisfaction.

But I remember how scared I was pre, and just after diagnosis... I think I was in denial about that alone for about 6 months.