A few years ago, I was diagnosed with PTSD. PTSD that stems from really shitty combat experiences as well as some really shitty childhood sexual trauma. In addition to that, I have nerve damage, high cholesterol, migraines, and just a too much other shit. So...I take a LOT of medication. Medication for depression, pain, nerve regeneration, and cluster migraines.
Now, after years of taking all this shit...and I should mention that the VA still isn't rating me on the actual thing that got me out of the Army to begin with. Anyway, after a few years of all of this...it feels like things are getting actually worse. The therapy has been rough recently...very rough...and now I have concerns that there is something else wrong with me physically. Not going to get into on here...otherwise I wouldn't get any fucking sleep tonight.
Anyway, I have group tomorrow. I haven't been in a while..about a month or so. I am looking forward to going, but kind of apprehensive. The format has changed and tomorrow is only for those vets from the original group who have also gone through either CPT or PE, or both. So I am not certain how many of the original group is going to be there. Other than that, I have some other concerns as well but don't think I am going to put them on here right now. They kind of revolve around other things that I have put on here...but now some other questions and concerns need to be worked out. :-(
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Down the Rabbit Hole again...and again...and again!
So I've been going around in circles and down fucking rabbit holes for awhile! Time in Hawaii was fun...but then flashbacks were a bitch. Hadn't seen the Doc for almost month when I went in there yesterday. Session was pretty good....but weird. Sometimes the doc makes faces and/or uses words that really make me wonder where her head was. Point in fact, if she wasn't my Doc, or if at least the conversation wasn't about what it actually was about...then I'd actually wonder if she wasn't starting to feel too close to me. Not necessarily in a sexual way....maybe in a way that's more than "brother" but less than "boyfriend." I would LOVE to ask her....but it's not worth the risk. I need HER help, and I have my own baggage and dependents anyway. If I wasn't so fucked up and so married, I would definitely have already done my best to hit on her.
In any event, the point of this post is that I am just fucking hating life right now. I did have some "dangerous" thoughts while away in Hawaii...but I didn't want to share that with the Doc or anyone...I didn't do ANYTHING to act on them since I really don't even like the idea of dying. Having a month off from the Doc really sucked ass...I really needed to talk with her about 15million times...and I just kinda missed her as a friend.
So over the last month -> I have been having a ton of questions about my childhood abuse and about Iraq. I have had too many dreams and too many flashbacks and too much guilt. The last few nights have been really horrible in the sex department too. So much so that I don't even WANT sex tonight despite my wife's very high libido and subsequent aggrevation about me telling her it's not going to happen. What's the actual problem?
The problem has been the frequency and types of memories that have been forcing their way into my head while having sex with my wife: childhood abuse AND Iraq. Then I get one of too reactions: I either loose my erection IMMEDIATELY (and my wife thinks it is due to the drugs I take)....or I cum instantly and then feel disgusted becuase my body reacted with physical excitment to such horrible, HORRIBLE, and PAINFUL memories.
So now I am going to journal more, a LOT MORE, and try to pick the Doc's brain about everything until I feel even just a little fucking better!
In any event, the point of this post is that I am just fucking hating life right now. I did have some "dangerous" thoughts while away in Hawaii...but I didn't want to share that with the Doc or anyone...I didn't do ANYTHING to act on them since I really don't even like the idea of dying. Having a month off from the Doc really sucked ass...I really needed to talk with her about 15million times...and I just kinda missed her as a friend.
So over the last month -> I have been having a ton of questions about my childhood abuse and about Iraq. I have had too many dreams and too many flashbacks and too much guilt. The last few nights have been really horrible in the sex department too. So much so that I don't even WANT sex tonight despite my wife's very high libido and subsequent aggrevation about me telling her it's not going to happen. What's the actual problem?
The problem has been the frequency and types of memories that have been forcing their way into my head while having sex with my wife: childhood abuse AND Iraq. Then I get one of too reactions: I either loose my erection IMMEDIATELY (and my wife thinks it is due to the drugs I take)....or I cum instantly and then feel disgusted becuase my body reacted with physical excitment to such horrible, HORRIBLE, and PAINFUL memories.
So now I am going to journal more, a LOT MORE, and try to pick the Doc's brain about everything until I feel even just a little fucking better!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Just Checking In with Myself
So the Doc's back this week....that's over three weeks since I have had any contact with her. She went somewhere where she wasn't sure her cell would work...or how much it would cost and I am pretty sure she doesn't get her email outside of the VA. So....despite quite a few shitty experiences, I am kind of proud AND yet sad, that I made it for three whole weeks with out emailing, calling, or texting her.
I am proud becuase it makes me realize that I, ME, made it through those rough times with the flashbacks, the horrible memories, and the other shit of misery. Despite being at a Luaua and having to strenously fight to remember that I was in Hawaii and NOT at Camp Anaconda, I made it through without having to call the Doc. That was REALLY hard becuase I really wanted to talk with her and felt like I needed help. Another time that was a bitch was when I actually had some time to hang with a friend who lived out there. We got a little drunk...although I didn't drink anywhere near as much as I "felt" like I did the next morning...but I think that's a whole nother issue. In any event, I woke up VERY early at my buddies house, despite having gotten back from the bar a few hours earlier. I was up for the day and fucking miserable so I decided to turn on my radio and check out the Hawaiian music scene....dumb fucking choice and I didn't even see it coming!!!!! A song came on that was popular when I was a kid...when I was a kid going through the second round of sexual abuse by a new group of fuckheads. I have a very clear memory now....and I don't know why it never bothered me before or why I had never remembered it before...of that song playing on the TV in the babysitters living room while the daughter wanted me to smell her fucking feet. Somehow this led to us playing in the back room...which was me more or less having to do all this stupid shit while being naked. It was that day, when her mom, the fucking babysitter, came in the room and my second round of hell...and in a lot of ways the WORST round...began. The woman was crazy. She had us punished by the husband, but then she was all nice and sweet...while having us get undressed all the way. I am not going into details here becuase it fucking makes me want to puke my life and soul out...maybe be dead. Is that so bad an idea sometimes???? I don't know how to answer that one. All I know is that I get confused to this day when it comes to what people, especially women, are thinking or wanting when they seem to be in too much of one extreme mood. This woman was "nice" about us (there were four of us kids there, including their two kids) getting raped. She was screaming about how bad it was that I had my pants off...and I was about 6/7 fucking years old, laughing when her husband spanked our bare asses, and then all sweet and not wanting him to "hurt us" while we got abused by that fuck and her.
OK....gotten myself a LOT worked up now...gonna stop thinking and writing about it. The point was that I was, I think, well within reason of HAVING to call the Doc, or her stand-in, but that I didn't. I breathed, and rationalized, and centered my way through each time until each hell or memory or thought or feeling went away.
I was also sad though that I was able to do this. Not sad in a miserable or depressed way...but then I am not sure in what way it was though. The big bottom line is that I just MISSED my Doc. I'd say it's about 50/50 on what I missed. I mean, I needed the sessions and I REALLY could have used her help during those times. But I also think of her as a friend and since I don't have that many (maybe 3???) and I try to talk to them every week....it was kinda sad not being able to talk with the Doc. Plus, there is the realization that whatever her trip was (work, vacation, honeymoon, Antartica, Barbados, ets.)...it's really none of my business. I guess it really pisses me off too. I remember when my mother's shrink would go to lunch with her twenty years ago. Now, there are so many fucking rules, and maybe some of them are the Doc's choice, but there is apparently NO way that we could ever be real friends. I believe that I will never be able to invite her over to a BBQ with my wife, kids, and other friends or that, as another example, I have NO business asking her any personal questions (which does seem onesided no matter HOW you slice it).
I think I have lamented on this before, and it is somewhat...bad?...that I am apparently so bothered by this. I sometimes wonder how much of my feelings for the Doc I am ignoring or glossing over...and how much of that really matters any. The important thing is that I found a Doc that I can trust, who has the kick-ass skills to help me, and who's one of the best people I have EVER met!!!!
I am proud becuase it makes me realize that I, ME, made it through those rough times with the flashbacks, the horrible memories, and the other shit of misery. Despite being at a Luaua and having to strenously fight to remember that I was in Hawaii and NOT at Camp Anaconda, I made it through without having to call the Doc. That was REALLY hard becuase I really wanted to talk with her and felt like I needed help. Another time that was a bitch was when I actually had some time to hang with a friend who lived out there. We got a little drunk...although I didn't drink anywhere near as much as I "felt" like I did the next morning...but I think that's a whole nother issue. In any event, I woke up VERY early at my buddies house, despite having gotten back from the bar a few hours earlier. I was up for the day and fucking miserable so I decided to turn on my radio and check out the Hawaiian music scene....dumb fucking choice and I didn't even see it coming!!!!! A song came on that was popular when I was a kid...when I was a kid going through the second round of sexual abuse by a new group of fuckheads. I have a very clear memory now....and I don't know why it never bothered me before or why I had never remembered it before...of that song playing on the TV in the babysitters living room while the daughter wanted me to smell her fucking feet. Somehow this led to us playing in the back room...which was me more or less having to do all this stupid shit while being naked. It was that day, when her mom, the fucking babysitter, came in the room and my second round of hell...and in a lot of ways the WORST round...began. The woman was crazy. She had us punished by the husband, but then she was all nice and sweet...while having us get undressed all the way. I am not going into details here becuase it fucking makes me want to puke my life and soul out...maybe be dead. Is that so bad an idea sometimes???? I don't know how to answer that one. All I know is that I get confused to this day when it comes to what people, especially women, are thinking or wanting when they seem to be in too much of one extreme mood. This woman was "nice" about us (there were four of us kids there, including their two kids) getting raped. She was screaming about how bad it was that I had my pants off...and I was about 6/7 fucking years old, laughing when her husband spanked our bare asses, and then all sweet and not wanting him to "hurt us" while we got abused by that fuck and her.
OK....gotten myself a LOT worked up now...gonna stop thinking and writing about it. The point was that I was, I think, well within reason of HAVING to call the Doc, or her stand-in, but that I didn't. I breathed, and rationalized, and centered my way through each time until each hell or memory or thought or feeling went away.
I was also sad though that I was able to do this. Not sad in a miserable or depressed way...but then I am not sure in what way it was though. The big bottom line is that I just MISSED my Doc. I'd say it's about 50/50 on what I missed. I mean, I needed the sessions and I REALLY could have used her help during those times. But I also think of her as a friend and since I don't have that many (maybe 3???) and I try to talk to them every week....it was kinda sad not being able to talk with the Doc. Plus, there is the realization that whatever her trip was (work, vacation, honeymoon, Antartica, Barbados, ets.)...it's really none of my business. I guess it really pisses me off too. I remember when my mother's shrink would go to lunch with her twenty years ago. Now, there are so many fucking rules, and maybe some of them are the Doc's choice, but there is apparently NO way that we could ever be real friends. I believe that I will never be able to invite her over to a BBQ with my wife, kids, and other friends or that, as another example, I have NO business asking her any personal questions (which does seem onesided no matter HOW you slice it).
I think I have lamented on this before, and it is somewhat...bad?...that I am apparently so bothered by this. I sometimes wonder how much of my feelings for the Doc I am ignoring or glossing over...and how much of that really matters any. The important thing is that I found a Doc that I can trust, who has the kick-ass skills to help me, and who's one of the best people I have EVER met!!!!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
No One should have to WITNESS Child Abuse????? Bad Advertising
I haven't had time to look it up but I passed an "interesting" sign in the Chicago Airport this morning. The line that I used as this post's title was the line on the poster. It was a poster to increase awarness of childhood sexual assualt/trauma in the Chicago area. While I applaud the effort, I am seriously annoyed the verbiage. Seriously, can't we start with "No should get away with Child abise"? All these fucks that get little to no time, repeat offenders, and just general shitbags that hurt kids...lets go after them before stopping people from "witnessing" child abuse.
I get the premise of the advertisment....but it still pisses me the fuck off!
I get the premise of the advertisment....but it still pisses me the fuck off!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Group was a croc of shit today!
Today is the fourth day of a long week...so long that its felt like one LONG day. I did do one nice thing for myself: I bought myself a gift from Amazon. I bought the book "Victims No Longer" as a birthday present for myself...kind of anyway. I had asked my Doc earlier in the week if she could recommend any literature or other things to keep me moving forward. It's not that she isn't helping, just that it's going to be a month until my next session with her and I am afraid of getting stuck. The book is for male survivors of childhood sexual assault. Maybe after I get a chunk into I might write more about it on here.
However, the focus of this post is just more on how shitty this week has been. About the only good thing was that the Doc was awesome, a complete smartass, and didn't take any of my shit or self-pity...all things I think I really needed this week. It was strange at first because she was definitely in a mood different from how I have ever seen her. But, like I said, that's probably the only good thing this week! My head has been in hell otherwise.
Most of my mental pain this week has revolved around the childhood shit. Some has been around Iraq...mostly about the damn PX. I haven't been to group in a few weeks and was SO looking forward to today's session. I was especially looking forward to it after the weather this morning. Sitting at my desk the thunder was so loud and so back-to-back that it reminded me of so many bad times in Iraq. Unfortunately, when group started there was no Doc, no social worker, and no recreation therapist (at least not the one I recognized). Nope...just some older lady. She gave us a print out of relaxation mantras, started a 30 minute audio track, and then walked out. After the track was done, everyone complained about the whirring noise (which we later found out came from the damn printer) and then left. So I drove 45 minutes round trip for a 30 minute nap. I wanted to talk today, and to listen. To spend some time with others like me and to lean on them. But that didn't happen. I am certain that some of the guys in the group would have hung out had I asked...but I struggle with being a burden and didn't feel like being one this afternoon.
So I might try to go next week, because after that I have some travelling for work to do and other things that will keep me away from the VA for awhile.
However, the focus of this post is just more on how shitty this week has been. About the only good thing was that the Doc was awesome, a complete smartass, and didn't take any of my shit or self-pity...all things I think I really needed this week. It was strange at first because she was definitely in a mood different from how I have ever seen her. But, like I said, that's probably the only good thing this week! My head has been in hell otherwise.
Most of my mental pain this week has revolved around the childhood shit. Some has been around Iraq...mostly about the damn PX. I haven't been to group in a few weeks and was SO looking forward to today's session. I was especially looking forward to it after the weather this morning. Sitting at my desk the thunder was so loud and so back-to-back that it reminded me of so many bad times in Iraq. Unfortunately, when group started there was no Doc, no social worker, and no recreation therapist (at least not the one I recognized). Nope...just some older lady. She gave us a print out of relaxation mantras, started a 30 minute audio track, and then walked out. After the track was done, everyone complained about the whirring noise (which we later found out came from the damn printer) and then left. So I drove 45 minutes round trip for a 30 minute nap. I wanted to talk today, and to listen. To spend some time with others like me and to lean on them. But that didn't happen. I am certain that some of the guys in the group would have hung out had I asked...but I struggle with being a burden and didn't feel like being one this afternoon.
So I might try to go next week, because after that I have some travelling for work to do and other things that will keep me away from the VA for awhile.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Checking in
It's been a little bit since I last wrote on here. The delay was me being really busy and me writing in my journal. I had a session today, first time in 2 weeks. It seemed like it was a really good one and I had some breakthroughs(?) with some stuck points. What we went over were four stuck points that the doc assigned to me when I texted her all out of whack and thinking I was a piece of shit of just doing something bad to Shane. Those were hard stuckpoints to work: "I AM Horrible," "I AM an ASSHOLE," "I Piss EVERYONE off ALL the time, and "I AM a burden on everyon" It's not fair to say that this whole crappy feeling and these stuck points came just from Shane apparently deciding he wanted nothing to do with me or my family.
On that regard, I think that a couple of possibilities exist:
- I DID say something to just piss the guy off,
- He's just an asshole and is ignoring people
- He read something on here that really pissed him off in regards to my earlier comments (since removed) about a certain person causing him shit.
- He was really mad about my comment about the Doc, even if it was innocuous.
Anyway, I guess I am kind of fair-to-midland today. Some parts of today's session where rough but it just mainly the Doc helping me but blatently kind of putting some things in my face. Got a rather shitty headache, AGAIN, after the session, and then got sick from the Arby's.
The real bummer about the therapy though is that I don't have another session for a MONTH!!! Guess the Doc's going to be out of town, and I have my own trips as well. I am actually not that worried about it becuase I know if I absolutely have to get ahold of her that I can. I do wish that when the schedule picked back up that I could maybe get two appointments that week. Or maybe set time asside to talk about the peripheral issues I have with all of the shit in my brain. I know the focus of the sessions has to be on the trauma and working through the different parts of that. However, I have really been wondering if that, as part of the "GETTING BETTER" if I am going to be able to maybe approach sex from a more normal standpoint that I do these days. :-(
On that regard, I think that a couple of possibilities exist:
- I DID say something to just piss the guy off,
- He's just an asshole and is ignoring people
- He read something on here that really pissed him off in regards to my earlier comments (since removed) about a certain person causing him shit.
- He was really mad about my comment about the Doc, even if it was innocuous.
Anyway, I guess I am kind of fair-to-midland today. Some parts of today's session where rough but it just mainly the Doc helping me but blatently kind of putting some things in my face. Got a rather shitty headache, AGAIN, after the session, and then got sick from the Arby's.
The real bummer about the therapy though is that I don't have another session for a MONTH!!! Guess the Doc's going to be out of town, and I have my own trips as well. I am actually not that worried about it becuase I know if I absolutely have to get ahold of her that I can. I do wish that when the schedule picked back up that I could maybe get two appointments that week. Or maybe set time asside to talk about the peripheral issues I have with all of the shit in my brain. I know the focus of the sessions has to be on the trauma and working through the different parts of that. However, I have really been wondering if that, as part of the "GETTING BETTER" if I am going to be able to maybe approach sex from a more normal standpoint that I do these days. :-(
Bad memories and scared of sleep
For the last few months I have been working on some of my shitty childhood trauma using Prolonged Exposure. I have to say that is pretty much is the worse thing I have ever volunteered to do. It's kind of funny too, a few weeks ago I left the session with the realization that I have been leaving there with the same damn headache every time! This week's session was no different. What was funny was that the doc mentioned that she has had patients complain of nasea and/or headaches BEFORE their sessions. Only thing I feel before a session is scared and/or pissed off.
Anyway, I have wanted to write for a few days but just couldn't find the time. We had a big party this weekend for our friends at the new house. It started with a balloon exploding and two Lorazapams and ended with too much vodka and a bad hangover in the morning. Pretty stupid for a guy who rarely drinks anymore. In any event the last few months have been sprinkled with on again/off again bad nights, horrible memories, and a general fear of going to sleep, among other things. Yesterday's session had me climbing the walls completely unwilling to go to sleep until I was actually falling asleep on the couch....which is what's going on now so I am going to try to hurry this thought along without screwing it up.
In yesterday's session, the Doc wanted me to record my talking about the middle instance of hell. And, she told me that she thinks we have to address the later one that is soooooooo bad and fucked up!!!!!!!!!!!! Good news there is that it won't happen for a few weeks..gotta love the holidays.
But I digress :-) ...last night, actually since leaving her office, I have been in a funk. I remembered some more stuff and none of it pleasant. Additionally, I was having some short but painful flashbacks yesterday as well, and all of which was just a mess. Most of it dealt with the childhood sexual abuse while there were at least two distinct instances when I would find myself dreaming/flashing back to Iraq
Anyway, I have wanted to write for a few days but just couldn't find the time. We had a big party this weekend for our friends at the new house. It started with a balloon exploding and two Lorazapams and ended with too much vodka and a bad hangover in the morning. Pretty stupid for a guy who rarely drinks anymore. In any event the last few months have been sprinkled with on again/off again bad nights, horrible memories, and a general fear of going to sleep, among other things. Yesterday's session had me climbing the walls completely unwilling to go to sleep until I was actually falling asleep on the couch....which is what's going on now so I am going to try to hurry this thought along without screwing it up.
In yesterday's session, the Doc wanted me to record my talking about the middle instance of hell. And, she told me that she thinks we have to address the later one that is soooooooo bad and fucked up!!!!!!!!!!!! Good news there is that it won't happen for a few weeks..gotta love the holidays.
But I digress :-) ...last night, actually since leaving her office, I have been in a funk. I remembered some more stuff and none of it pleasant. Additionally, I was having some short but painful flashbacks yesterday as well, and all of which was just a mess. Most of it dealt with the childhood sexual abuse while there were at least two distinct instances when I would find myself dreaming/flashing back to Iraq
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