I wanted to work with veterans when I first started off in the field of social work.
Specifically, I wanted to work with veterans who were suffering from PTSD and substance abuse.
So I went to graduate school for social work, and selected a concentration of “Dual Diagnosis.”
I was 1 of 3 students in my entire graduating class who selected a concentration of “Dual Diagnosis.”
I told myself the reason for its unpopularity was the 90% relapse rate associated with substance abuse.
I don’t actually know the reason for its unpopularity as a career, but that is the story I told myself.
Seemed to make sense.
While I, too, knew about the statistically high probability of relapse among people in recovery, it was that 10 percent I was focused on.
That 10 percent of folks who get better and stay better, or get better-relapse-and then get better again-these were my people.
So I wanted to work with veterans suffering with PTSD and addiction.
Then I graduated school and realized the VA was not going to hire someone fresh out of school with no experience, so I found myself a position at a family/children’s agency instead, and from there I honed my craft as a trauma therapist working with kids and teenagers.
I learned pretty quickly PTSD does not only impact people who have been to war. Nor does substance abuse, but that will be a different blog.
PTSD can impact anyone who has endured a traumatic experience, which can range from sexual assault, childhood abuse, domestic violence, natural disasters.
Even witnessing these things, or hearing that someone close to you has experienced something traumatic, can trigger symptoms of trauma in yourself, which include flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, emotional dysregulation, negative cognitions about self and the world, and avoidance.
Let’s talk about that last one for a moment. Avoidance.
Nobody wants to talk about a traumatic experience.
Not even me, and I'm a therapist!
Nobody wants to think about bad things that have happened.
It’s not enjoyable.
Doesn’t feel good.
It’s incredibly difficult.
The truth is, however, whether you want to think about these things or not, you will.
The thoughts WILL come.
Not only will they come, but the more you try to not think about something, the bigger it gets.
What you resist, persists, and it persists in all the ways you do not want for it to: nightmares, intrusive thoughts, flashbacks.
But it's the avoidance part of PTSD that keeps all the other PTSD symptoms going.
The idea behind PTSD treatment is not to do it because it's fun or because you want to.
Psssst: You're never going to want to.
The idea behind PTSD treatment is if you tend to the heavy emotions, intense memories, and negative thoughts, and you allow yourself to process it all with the guidance of a professional, then it won’t need to sneak through in all the ways troubling you.
Your life will never be the same as it was before the trauma, but therapy can help you find meaning and it can help symptoms. You may still have some symptoms that are triggered periodically, but they won’t be as frequent, or intense, and you’ll have coping skills for dealing with them when they do occur.
Not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will go onto develop PTSD, but for those that do, I can tell you this: Nobody wants to talk about it. And that’s exactly why you should.
Ok then.
Out.
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