Coming back to work after PTSD

Hi @GalacticRose

Thanks for sharing with us your story, it sounds like you have had quite a journey to get to where you are today. Welcome to the forums! You can also post in Welcome! Introduce yourself here 🙂

I hope you find support here and please don't forget to familiarize yourself with the Community guidelines as well.

Thanks for joining us!

@babyshark

Hi @GalacticRose and welcome to the Sane Forums.

I hope you find the forums as supportive as I have.

First thing, thank you for posting. That takes a lot of courage, especially the first post. To write down what we are going through and what you need is such a huge achievement. Be proud of yourself for doing this.

I'm sorry you have been through so much trauma in your life. No one should have to experience that. I too suffer from complex PTSD from trauma.

I'm glad to hear that you have got a great therapist. I really do think that they can make a difference in our lives.

You have certainly come to the right place if you need to talk. Sometimes I just find writing things down helps. Sort of like releasing all the built up emotions and thoughts. Like you I would never talk to friends/family about what I have been through. Even though I don't want anyone else to have mental health problems, it certainly is easier to connect with people that can understand me. Can understand my thoughts and feelings. Can know how trauma can take over so much of my life.

Unfortunately, our MI can take over so much of our lives, including our work and lifestyle choices. Just the fact that you are trying is to be commended. My ptsd has meant that I'm not working either. Yes it is something I want to return too. However sometimes just dealing with our mental health can feel like work. Just getting through a day can be exhausting within itself.

Please keep reaching out on here for support. There will be many more members that will be able to relate to you.

Just a suggestion. If you want to tag someone so they know you have responded to them, just use the @ button and their name should be there. The @ and their name will go blue too.

Thanks for reaching out to us. You have a lot of courage and are brave for accessing our forums.

I understand what it is like to have CPTSD, where men are involved. My Mum was in a cult for 10 years, so I do understand what it feels like to have that connection with strangers. I didn't have contact with my Mum over the 10 years but I was abandoned, neglected, homeless and emotionally abused. I was 15 years old when Mum joined. She did leave after 10 years but I have been deeply hurt by her actions whilst being in the cult.

It's great that you're thinking about going back work. Do have access EAP? Maybe you can reach out to them, knowing that it's confidential. We are here to listen to you and offer resources.

You are an inspiration and being able to reach out to people and increase your friendship group is a huge achievement.

I admire you that you've been able to work alongside men, which sounds like it's been for many years with a traumatic history. Are there any other job roles that you can consider? Maybe a remote online role, working from home.

I too struggle with my weight, and do overeat and lie on the couch, not because of a disability but I can get very fatigued. I'm sorry to hear that you're in alot of pain. Can your GP or Psychiatrist. Can you make small steps, walking out to the letterbox, then increasing the distance slowly to your level. If you have a journal, write down your exercise regime and maybe highlight your distance so that when you increase the distance, it stands out in colour and you can be proud of how far you've come.

There's help out there for you and people who can listen to you and assist you, give you some tools to use. There may also be some others on here that you can connect with to get advice.

Thanks again for reaching out and I hope you have found this helpful.

@GalacticRoseIt's really awesome your spotting the resources you need more of I've been here on SANE, because of my CPTSD and PTSD mostly it's also interfering with my wanting to return to work, I'm a survivor of what I consider cult behaviour and part of what is amazes me is just the truth of survival and waking up to the reality (deprogramming was subtle and took years) some people lost their lives at the end of the day and thats true about any cult or cult-like organisation they get dangerous if left unchecked and you don't leave.

Recovery takes time and it doesn't revolve around the truama but you and what you enjoy and learning what you can enjoy again takes time again too.

Thank you for being a women in the STEM field, please don't make at a cost to you though. It's just passed the other day Happy Fibannacci Day.

Dear @Peace4now ,

I am touched by your share and am sorry that you too have had abusive experiences and were secondhand affected by cult abuse in your family.

I do not have access to EAP I am new to Australia and not sure about resources yet. My job is very intellectually demanding and I have brain and nervous system damage. Sometimes reading is hard and I am expected to produce original and breakthrough math and physics research to meet the standard of my job.

Thank you for your kind words and understanding. I am discouraged going to back work because I feel the pain of seeing the difference between what I would have accomplished without going through the trauma compared to where I am now. I am fortunate to be employed though. I know there's a lot to be grateful for but it also hurts.

I am not going to give up on my dreams now because I have to faced too much to remain in this profession and I know I was meant to be here. I have other artistic pursuits as well and have trained in Incan shamanism and those career outlets which are budding for me have an equal gender ratio and also a better attitude about mental health and emotional intelligence in general.

I am sorry to hear you too suffer from exercise and eating issues and I hope I can be supportive to you as well. That is a good idea about ramping it up. I'm walking now regularly. Perhaps some light yoga could be next.

I want to start trusting in the Universe/God and my higher power and spirituality again.

I used to feel centered in myself and could meditate for hours but I feel like my center and my trust in myself and the Universe has compromised and I want to get it back.

You are a kind soul and I thank you for your response and supportive words. All the best to you and if there's something I can help with on your end let me know.

Best wishes,
GalacticRose [name removed by moderator]

Dear @babyshark,

Thank you for your welcome and your reponse to my post. Best wishes to you,

Hi @GalacticRose just a quick note to let you know that we've made a small edit to your post just to replace your name with your username. This is just to maintain anonymity, in line with our forum guidelines which you can check out here

Dear @Snowie

Thank you for your kind message and encouragement. Asking for help certaintly is hard especially I've had bad experiences reaching out in the post. But with Sane forums and Sane organization, so far so good! I'm keeping my fingers crossed things continue to go well.

Thank you for letting me know it's okay to talk. I find it so necessary and so therapeutic for the emotional pain and burdens I have welling up inside me. It reminds me that healing these wounds is possible even though sometimes it doesn't seem like it.

I hope I can encourage you too with the struggles you face with ptsd as well. It is so frustrating to have career/ability to navigate the world so deeply compromised. I haven't worked for many years also so I feel you on that. It's good we encourage each other and understand that we are doing the best that we can.

Thanks!

Dear @Trickster,

I am very sorry to hear you have also suffered cult behavior/abuse. It is deeply disturbing that such things can happen. I congratulate you on the work you have done in deprogramming, there are volumes and books written about deprogramming and it a difficult feat and a big accomplishment.

What do you enjoy, brings you color and passion to your life? I like singing and the arts. I have been listening a lot lately to Patti LaBelle and Mariah Carey because they have beautiful voices. I am in the process of brainstorming a script for a film i want to make someday.

Best wishes to you,

@GalacticRose