When we relive our trauma what happens? How do we move forward in life? How do we forget?
I don’t think people ever forget a traumatic event. PTSD – “Frightening situations happen to everyone at some point. People can react in many different ways: they might feel nervous, have a hard time sleeping well, or go over the details of the situation in their mind. These thoughts or experiences are a normal reaction. They usually decrease over time and the people involved can go back to their daily lives. Post-traumatic stress disorder, on the other hand, lasts much longer and can seriously disrupt a person’s life.”
A traumatic event to one person may seem trivial to another. Yet it is the same experience. No one really knows how they would react to a traumatic event until it happens to them or someone they love. Recognizing and acknowledging your feelings,emoitons certainly is part of recovery. Seeking professional help is key to moving forward, but does not mean we forget. Simply put you re-learn to live life again.
“Recovery is the personal process that people with mental illness go through in gaining control, meaning and purpose in their lives. Recovery involves different things for different people. For some, recovery means the complete absence of the symptoms of mental illness. For others, recovery means living a full life in the community while learning to live with ongoing symptoms.
The goal of many mental health services and treatments is now recovery. This wasn’t always the case. In the past, mental health professionals told people with mental illness and their families that most illnesses got worse over time. People were told to lower their expectations.
People with mental illness challenged these pessimistic assumptions. Researchers began to study how consumers lived their lives over the decades and found that many people did in fact get better. New and more effective medical treatments and social supports developed.
Recovery involves changes in the way individuals with mental illness think, act and feel about themselves and the possibilities in their lives. It also requires changes in the ways services are funded and organized, mental health professionals are trained, and success is measured. Recovery is about transforming the mental health system so that it truly puts the person at the centre.”
Our scars remind us where we have been but do not have to find our future to find success, peace and happiness. Speaking up is part of taking back your power.
http://www.cmha.ca/mental_health/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/#.WbgdFq2ZNbU