friends with ptsd- how's it going? does anything help?

[mopinko]

so, 5 years ago, our house was broken into. it wasn't that horrible of a deal to me. the guy was caught, all property returned, no violence involved. but my daughter, then 15, and struggling with plenty of problems, imploded.
she has been dx'd with ptsd. she has become highly paranoid and anxious. (redundant)

just wondering if there are folks here who can share things that worked for them, or didnt work. or tell me what is the stupidest thing i can say to her, so i wont.
any meds that helped?

she is in therapy, and has been for quite a while. has a lot of physical/pain issues to boot.
she even qualified for a psyche disability. she is just so sweet and talented. she had such a bright future. but she just got whomped by life.

[PumpkinAle]

1. Sorry I do not

but I am sending you both hugs that you both find peace soon.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

2. I have it.

It all depends on the person. Some meds help, some don't. Groups help some people, other they don't. My advice is for her to keep in contact with her doctor, both mental and physical. They can help her maneuver through this.

What you can do is be there. That is VERY important.

[mopinko]

4. yeah, for all the good docs have done her.

part of the problem- she was dx'd with chrons disease at age 9. it's a really awful thing to go through, and we had some bullshit shit. she had a pain issues, possibly caused by malpractice? raynauds syndrome. bleeding problems. autoimmune oddities, honestly.
we, which includes a wonderful school nurse, dragged her through high school, and she had a great scholarship all set.

it goes on.
it's been tough.

[geardaddy]

3. I've been hearing about Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing

EMRD. I'm in therapy, but I need to look into someone who practices this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMDR

[intheflow]

7. I keep trying to remember this is an option.

It's worked for me when I've remembered to use it about, I dunno, 80% of the time. I find it least effective when trying to stop my monkey mind in the middle of the night and get to sleep. I find it most effective when outside and I move my eyes upward to the skies and tree tops (or stars at night). But it's pretty good, even when it it only offers only a few minutes distraction from whatever I'm struggling with. I think it's both that you feel like you're empowered to do something physical but not outlandish (move your eyes) and whatever your eyes land on when they stop holds your attention long enough to reset your brain. My problem is when I feel like I'm underwater with my depression I don't remember to do this very often. I sure could have used it earlier today.

[Terra Alta]

5. Based on personal experience with depression and anxiety

I can tell you a few things NOT to say or do.

Don't tell her to "snap out of it", like it's something she can turn on and off like a light switch. Don't treat her illness like a phase she will eventually grow out of. Don't think she is doing this just for attention, she has a severe mental illness that needs to be treated.

You and your daughter are in my thoughts and prayers. Sounds to me like you are doing all the right things by getting her help. I wish my own family had been as helpful with my condition.

[mopinko]

6. at least not dumb enough to say any of those things.

it's actually even deeper. i am so perplexed. i have been right there for that kid through some real hell.

a big thing that is starting to get straight is that her pdoc is consulting on/taking over her pain meds. she had actual, bizarro physical problems. she was probed half to death. they just now have a fucking clue.
if she can get the pain straight, i think she will do a whole lot better. right now i have good pain control, and it is a different universe.
she does mostly trust me, so we got that.

[defacto7]

8. The absolute most positive thing

that I have done for my PTSD is practicing simple meditation. For me, the PTSD consists of the never ending scripts going around in my mind that always lead to painful memories or even painful outcomes of non-existent problems. It's like my inner voice just can't stop talking. Once is started the simple meditation of dismissing all words in my mind and listening to all sounds around me during that single moment in time then letting it pass by to the next moment, I saw a great difference. Advancing to just listening to my own breathing and making the hearing moments smaller improved the experience. I started with 30 seconds (it's hard to get started. you always have to kindly tell yourself to stop thinking) then a minute, then after a while it was 5, 10 15 minutes. That's really all I have ever needed to feel like my mind was slowed and calm. My memory increased, my cognitive ability increased and the incessant noise in my head has lowered to a distant din.

It really has helped me. It's not a religious thing it's just a way of calming the mind and making it flow in a calm and consistent manner.

Hope it helps.

[mopinko]

9. without a doubt meditation is helpful

so hard to get the hang, tho.

but as an update, we have finally discovered that it is not a "mental illness" it is a "brain illness". a stupider distinction for doctors, between the mind and the brain, there has never been.
this is something that has pissed me off, trying to figure out why i cant sleep, why i am depressed.
if the current theory is correct, both she and i predisposed to seizure disorders, and had enough knocks to set them off.
she has severe bilateral front lobe epilepsy. this wasnt even picked up in neuropsyche testing.

she is medicated, and smiling for the first time in i dont remember.

dont dismiss the effects of brain injury.
when i started counting them up, realized i had a half dozen concussion that no one ever called concussions. small injury kept fritzing in my sleep. finally shut it up, and doing amazingly better.