I realized today, that I may have PTSD from the "incident" last week

[sniffa]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7825261&mesg_id=7825261

Ever since, I've been rather flinchy. I work in traffic a lot (never bothered me before) and since then I'm quite jerky and scared of being hit.

Now driving, I'm flinchy. I think everyone's going to slam into me.

Even worse, I'm now eyeing everyone walking by to see if it's the gunner (he hot away) or one of his friends coming to payback for snitching.

Good times, good times. :eyes:

[mainegreen]

1. That sucks. Sorry. n/t

[AlCzervik]

2. Sorry Sniffa.

we have cal trans out here, they do the highway repairs and there have been many incidents of drivers slamming into "the cone zone" and i'm thinking to work on those crews it must take a toll on a person.

[sniffa]

7. We haven't had that yet, thank god

A few people have tried to snake through our areas, but 1) they're going slow, and 2) our details put a stop to that almost instantaneously. They make them put the car in reverse and follow the detour signs. They're there for a reason.

:hi:

[Midlodemocrat]

3. Okay, go see your doctor.

Ask about some anti-anxiety meds. Might help.

And, I'm sorry that happened to you. :hug: :loveya:

[sniffa]

5. Thanks

It's weird - not much shakes me, and that didn't at the time. It just hit me today, that I'm acting different. Every loud noise sends my head spinning.

:hug: :loveya:

[flvegan]

4. Shoulda put your name as Raymond Patriarca, III on the police report.

Seriously though, that sucks. I agree with Midlo, might be worth a quick trip to the doc.

[sniffa]

10. I used James Bulger instead

:D

[flvegan]

15. Still

carrying the "Whitey" meme, eh Hillbot?

:rofl:

[sniffa]

18. Why'd he go on the lam? Why'd he get tipped off by the FBI?

:rofl:

[SteppingRazor]

6. It'll probably pass in a couple months.

I worked the cops and courts beat for a daily paper for a while. Then, and for a long time afterward, I was a ridiculously paranoid driver. But now, years later, I've totally forgotten the accident scenes -- or at least, I don't think about them anymore.

[sniffa]

11. Yeah, I think I'll get to that point again

It's just weird when you actually recognize that, "Hey, I'm acting different."

[jobycom]

8. You mean the scene?

Seriously, it'd be hard not to have some reaction. You were reminded how fleeting and fragile life can be, how even your safest moments can be violated by horrific violence, and your basic sense of security can be ripped from you in a random moment of synchronicity, devoid of any obvious connection to the sense of causality that our western metaphysical system promotes with almost religious fervor.

You need a beer.

And be sure to take all the advice you get from the Lounge. :)

[sniffa]

17. It's strange though

I go through life knowing life is fleeting, and treat it as such - I know if it's my time to go, I'm gonna go. I've never had fear. Now, I apparently do, and it sucks.

I'm guessing it's age, since I've witnessed/been involved in far worse than that in my lifetime, and I can't remember having this sort of reaction in me. :/
Then again, I haven't had one of those in maybe a decade. Most of my near-death experiences were during my teens.

[jobycom]

28. Maybe age has something to do with it.

Not sure how old you are. But what you saw, and the fact that you were looking in your friend's eyes when he was hit, if I recall the story correctly, and the fact that you weren't sure how that would turn out, would shake anyone up. Your psyche, or whatever it's called, gets injured just like your body, especially from sudden, unexpected blows. And of course you begin to understand mortality more as you get older. We've all gone through periods when fear of death--ours or a loved ones--almost cripples us.

Plus, there's the "flipped switch." I saw a movie once that didn't scare me much at the theater, but terrified me later, after a nightmare. It had flipped some switch in me, and no matter how rationally I thought about it, I couldn't shake the fear. I slept with the lights on for a week. And I'm not the scared type, so this was unusual. Your experience was much more real than that, so residual emotional reactions sound pretty normal.

Anyway, I'm sure you've thought of all that. Hang in there, it'll fade. It might just go away all at once, even. I was surprised before at how calm you seemed telling the story--it would have shaken most people up more than that. If it's really nagging at you, and you can't get your head around it, don't be shy about chatting about it with someone--doctor, psychologist, counselor, a friend who will pay attention. Don't feel like "it's nothing" if you feel like it's something, if you know what I mean. It is something--only you can figure out whether it's something you should handle on your own, or get some advice on. I mean real advice, not DU advice! We just ramble, like I'm doing. :)

[sniffa]

31. I'll be 33 in September

Today was different. After acknowledging what I was I going through, today went a lot smoother. However, the loud noises were still making me flinch, and sent my head spinning in the direction of the noise. Aside from that, driving was smooth, working in traffic was smooth, and I didn't once eye a passerby as a possible gunman coming to get me. :)
I hope it continues like that, and that I work on stopping the noise thing.

I was fairly calm retelling the story. Live, my heart was flying, but it was excitement more than fear. It wasn't until a few days had passed that I started to change.
This is all just new to me, and I think I'm handling it well. Thank you and the rest of the loungers for helping me through it. :hi:

[IndianaJones]

9. adjustment disorder? give it a couple of months. nt.

[redqueen]

12. I'm sorry to hear that...

Not too surprising, considering how crazy that was. Hopefully it'll pass soon. :hug:

[sniffa]

22. Thank you

This thread is helping. I'm interested to see how tomorrow goes, now that I've recognized it. :hug:

[PVnRT]

13. Give me a quarter and it will all go away

[sniffa]

21. I already told you no

[Sheets of Easter]

14. Enough about that, is the Mexican brick okay?

:P

Seriously, though, I hope you bounce back. That sounded like some scary shit, man.

[khashka]

16. You don't have PTSD, dude

just a normal reaction from a bad thing. With PTSD you lock yourself in your house and refuse to see anyone (yeah, bi baby would like that!). People, sounds scare the fuck out of you and you can get violent. Give it some time, you'll be fine.

[sniffa]

19. That's why I said, "may"

I'm sure there's another term for it. :shrug:

[DarkTirade]

20. Yeah, somebody almost cause an accident last week, pulled right out in front of me

on a 45-50mph road, doing about 20. They were only watching the lane they had to cross over, not the one they were going to. Completely oblivious.

For the next several days I was twitching any time I saw someone doing something that could lead to an accident or anything like that. Although there wasn't actually an accident in my case and there were no guns, still. Something life-flash-before-your-eyesish happens, and you tend to be a little jumpy afterwards. :)

[RainDog]

23. agree with Khaska - sounds like anxiety, not ptsd

I've had/have both.

ptsd is serious shite. I lost my memory of a particular time b/c it was too traumatic. that's a part called psychogenic amnesia - where your mind protects you from things that are too traumatic to keep at the front of your mind. in fact, I didn't find out about things *I* had done at that time (which were all very angry things) until 8 years or so later.

psychogenic amnesia actually alters your brain. (well, that explains me!)

when I was older (the first thing happened when I was 12), I was mugged by two guys. at first I had a major adrenaline rush and fought back, but when I had time to think, I was overpowered.

had to go to the hospital, etc. for a messed up elbow. after I went back to work (I was mugged on my way to work) I was really jumpy around guys who reminded me of the muggers when I was in the same area. I felt like I needed to talk about the incident (and heard from other females... oh, so what, people get mugged all the time... why, I was mugged...) anyway, it sounds like that was the sort of situation you were in.

after the fact you get that your life was in danger and it's not pleasant to think about when you go right back into the situation.

however, one good thing to do with that is to look at probability. like ppl who are afraid of getting struck by lightning and so they hide during a storm - you can look at the likelihood that this sort of thing would happen to you again and tell yourself you can relax some... you don't have to be on guard 24/7.

you can do deep breathing exercises while you tell yourself you are not in danger -- based upon that probability.

Your adrenaline just gave you a big jolt, and so exercise and deep breathing are useful to help get your body readjusted. Nature gave us that big adrenaline blast to help us survive in just such stressful situations. And you did survive!! Now your body/mind needs to know it's safe again.

I know these things, btw, and I'm not doing them now, tho I should for my own anxiety. when I do these things, however, I do feel much better. I am doing some things to deal with my own anxiety, tho, so I won't be too hard on myself.

I'm glad you got through it all and can tell us about what happened. I hope you never have another such experience, and you shouldn't, in terms of likelihood. I was never mugged again.

hugs to you and yours

[NC_Nurse]

24. Damn, that sounds awful! I'm glad you're okay. Anyone would be a little

freaked out by that. Give yourself some time, it'll recede. :hug:

[TK421]

25. It's anxiety...and justifiably so, after reading about this incident

and for what it's worth, I'm sure it will wear off given enough time :thumbsup:

I would've been shaken up, too

[Shakespeare]

26. Totally understandable--that was a crazy thing to be involved in.

And it's a double-whammy, because it's the crime aspect AND the crash. Listen to Midlo--don't let this stress you out unnecessarily. See somebody if you can. :hug:


:hi: :loveya:

[sniffa]

33. Thanks love

:loveya: :hug:

[Critters2]

27. It's a normal reaction, though you might want to get some anti-anxiety drugs

for a while, just to get you through the worst of it. That was a horrible scene, and it's reasonable to be jumpy afterwards. I had a car accident--rear-ended by a speeder, not injured at all--a few years ago. For nearly a year, I'd break out in a cold sweat if I was being tail-gated. Sometimes, I'd have to pull over and catch my breath. And that was nothing compared to what you've been through. Of course, you'll be scared for a while.

Don't force yourself to do anything you feel uncomfortable doing, and seek a doctor's help if it disrupts your life too much. And take care of yourself! :hug:

[bigwillq]

29. You'll be fine.

The incident only happened just recently. You need to give your mind, and body, some time to get over what happened. But you will. You're probably being more paranoid about it then you should be. Just relax, breathe, relax. Mind over matter. And if it's still bad, maybe getting something from the doctor would be a good thing. Good Luck. :hi: :hug:

[sniffa]

32. Thanks buddy

:hug:

[applegrove]

30. Make sure you talk about what happened over and over again. Get it out. Better yet make an

appointment with a psychologist to work this event out of your life.