PTSD- When Time Doesn’t Heal
The alarm goes off and you try your hardest to see that there is hope in today. There is hope to get out of bed that today will be better than yesterday. But then, you realize you also are having a difficult time moving at all. Frozen. The nightmares, the ongoing difficulty with sleep…the overwhelming reminders of the past trauma you should have never had to live through once, let along everyday since. “It gets better” they all say…but when exactly is it better?
The truth is that with PTSD, time does not heal the wounds.
I wish I could tell you that it did because goodness wouldn’t that be more simple than the reality we are actually faced with?
Often we are taught to just make it through each day by shoving down the hard stuff. The belief is that if we don’t look at it, it will no longer be impacting our brains and bodies, making us magically somehow able to be more productive and connected. The problem with this old way of thinking though is that science has proven that the opposite is true—the more we try to suppress our emotional distress and traumatic memories, the more they take over and run havoc on our beliefs about the world and ourselves, not to mention the more they work against the health in our bodies.
Increased depression, panic attacks, sleeplessness, anger outbursts, frequent dissociation, autoimmune difficulties, reduced optimal brain functioning, increased illness, loss of sense of self and connection to others are all connected to problems that can surface due to unresolved, unhealed post-traumatic stress. Yikes, right!
Healing the Wound
It’s okay though, because PTSD CAN get better…it just requires you to also lean in and do some brave, courageous work. It requires learning ways to retrain your brain to see that you are no longer in a space of danger. It requires looking at the feelings of anger, anxiety, panic, grief and sometimes even shame that seem to whisper to you all day long.
What’s the best way to begin to process, learn healthy coping, reconnect with your body and mind, get control of your emotions instead of having them overtake you? The best way to healing is actively choosing to do the work (the therapeutic process) with a trusted therapist who gets exactly where you are coming from and who specializes in helping individuals heal from trauma.
Please note: This post is not intended to take the place of therapy but is designed only to provide general information. If you or someone you love is possibly experiencing PTSD, please seek services from a qualified mental health professional.
