Posted by petunia on February 19, 2009, at 21:40:13
In reply to Re: Need help answering T's question...need info., posted by AMF on February 19, 2009, at 19:53:30
Have your therapist look through PTSD resources... this kind of loss is a big factor in PTSD. People who have had car accidents like yourself, pilots flying planes that went down, people who were involved in 9/11 or Oklahoma City, that sort of thing. PTSD is, in part, a world of "what-ifs" that never end, and it's a really big deal in single-trauma PTSD. It's there in complex PTSD too, but (at least for me) in a much more diffuse way.
These unspoken losses that no one really sees or thinks about are one of the reasons traumas -- especially single traumas -- don't get resolved in that early time window. One important issue in PTSD is how people respond to us in the aftermath of a traumatic experience -- if there's no compassion, if there's blame, if there's anger, it tends to really put a cork in the healing process. Self-blame is just as potent a factor as the blame of others, I think.
If I get a chance, I'll try to find something for you on the net. I wish you well. :)
poster:petunia
thread:880992
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20090214/msgs/881205.html