My husband came back from Vietnam with PTSD and was diagnosed with anxiety. What helped him the most was writing and rewriting his experiences (at least five drafts on a typewriter) into a memoir (Chickenhawk). It moved nightmares and intrusive thoughts and memories into his past. It didn't cure the PTSD, but it made life more bearable. A few years ago, he also started on Zoloft, which helped with his depression that I consider a natural result of PTSD's emotional numbing. Refuse your feelings and you will get depressed. Published: November 29 ::

I had a psychotic mother who was physically, sexually, and emotionally abusive to me as a very young child. I was placed in an even more abusive orphanage where I began to self-harm and eventually try to kill myself. I also switched into another personality there. I was called "#14," and I switched to "14," who wasn't so afraid of the abuse there. At some point, I began to suffer from PTSD. After 30 years, I was put on Zyprexa. It immediately took just about all my self-harming and suicidal thoughts away. However, I gained 100 pounds. No doctor wanted to take me off it, so I did it myself and finally got stabilized on Seroquel. These are antipsychotics but have been proven helpful in treating PTSD. I have not met anyone else though who has had such a significant improvement to the extent I have. However, it is worth a shot. Published: November 29 ::

After trying several types of medication, I found exercise, yoga and meditation to work the best. The medicine - Lexapro did help some what, but made me feel tired/sleepy and gave me gut problems. I advise not going back to work full time as you burn yourself out again. Seeing a psychologist helped as well as you could talk about your experiences although I wanted to avoid as much of my past experiences as possible. I have heard that 6 week courses run by PTSD psych/psychiatrists have been really helpful for police and military personnel. Remember that your family needs you and set yourself goals. Published: October 15 ::

After being abused when I was a child, moving many of times, going through my parents divorce, and being raped as a teenager, I could hardly sleep, and began having panic attacks all the time. This lead me to see a therapist who helped me work through my past which I kept a secret for years. I was finally feeling better until overwhelming stress and sexual harassment at work pushed me over the edge and I was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It was absolutely awful. I didn't want to do anything, go anywhere, and was terrified of anything related to my job (of which I had to leave on doctor’s orders). It's almost been a year and things have improved, but it's astonishing what this can do to a person. I've found therapy very helpful, along with medicine, plenty of sleep, light exercise, keeping a journal of how I feel and trying to make small goals for myself. If I could do anything differently, I would have spoken up a lot earlier, and not have pretended everything was fine until I couldn't take it anymore. Published: September 24 ::

I have been diagnosed with PTSD over the past six months from multiple traumas that happened to me before I was 18 years old. I never thought it would have affected me now at 50! I had an "old" man neighbor put his hands down my pants, one of my brothers inappropriately touched me while I was asleep, I was rapped by my high school biology teacher, and a friend’s father made passes at me! I had always wanted to get married and have a family, but I seemed to always pick the wrong men. I had been living in the cycle, not knowing what they heck is going on until I left a relationship that meant the world to me. Then my brother passed away, and then all of this came flowing out of me. So, now I am in the process of putting my life back in order. Wow, it is work to love, appreciate, trust, and believe in myself! What has helped me the most is finding a great therapist and facing this head on. I now know that all people aren't as sick as all the men that violated me. Each day I am getting stronger and stronger. Published: December 16 ::

I found out that my PTSD stemmed from childhood sexual abuse, which later, I believed it resulted in alcohol and drug abuse. It didn’t find treatment until I hit bottom and joined AA. It has helped me immensely. AA helped me to face life sober. Before, all I tried to do was to keep all of those memories away, hence the drugs and alcohol. Acceptance is the key. Published: December 16 ::

I have PTSD. I suffer flashbacks of a horrific event I went through when I was 22 years old. I am now 52. I am looking for a miracle treatment because I have gone to therapy for years, but the flashbacks still occur when there is a trigger. It lasts for two days to at least a week. Yoga has been helpful. And I paint and draw or carve; that helps as well, except when the flashbacks are happening. Then it is hard to refocus. I try to keep doing the menial tasks around the house, such as scrub the sink or pull some weeds. That helps too. Published: November 29 ::