Let's Get Rid of the 'Y' in the Word Recovery

"The idiot(s) that said it was not possible to recover from PTSD has their head up their ass." My friend Bill went on to add: "I know people that have been to Hell and back, suffered unimaginable things, and gone on to live good lives because they got help, did the footwork necessary, and let things go." My friend Bill, a veteran and a retired police officer, is one of those people who is never one to mince words-- and is usually accurate in his assessment of situations.

Also, in the "been there, and know" category is an organization called Causeway (*) which states on its website:
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Is a psychological reaction to a traumatic event or events. The symptoms of PTSD fall into three categories. The first is reliving the event in one or more ways, such as flashbacks, recurrent dreams, physical sensations, and illusions. The second category involves a tendency to avoid reminders of the event. Symptoms may include an avoidance of activities, places or people, an avoidance of thoughts or feelings, survivor guilt, loss of interest in daily activities and difficulty maintaining healthy relationships. The third category involves a higher level of arousal and symptoms such as agitation, substance abuse, memory loss, sleep disorders, dizziness, trouble concentrating, and trouble managing anger. PTSD is readily treatable and the person can make a full recovery to normal functioning."(*) Note not only their description of this condition, but also the last sentence-- similar to Bill's straightforward assessment, they too present the fact that with the proper help, and "footwork" on the person's own part, contrary to current popular opinion, PTSD is not a life-sentence to a lifetime of misery, nor a lifetime of reliance on "therapy," "meds," and an endless need of "support."

Those who perpetuate the myth that a person cannot recover from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that one who has had this condition is doomed to spend the rest of his life in recover-y, base such conclusions on either ignorance of the facts or the desire to manipulate; and the bottom line is it is an issue which must be addressed, for when people are misled with this belief, recover-y stands to be even more debilitating than the original condition itself. In recent research into this subject, I was but should not have been surprised to come across countless "support forums"-- not a one of which included the point that this condition is something a person can fully recover from.

What accounts for this widespread misunderstanding? The first factor in dismissing the facts and focusing instead on what is "popular," is that for more than twenty years recover-y has become a fad. The American public loves the media; and places far too much emphasis on those who are in the public eye. In the mid-eighties, it suddenly became very fashionable for celebrities-- especially talented young stars-- to come forward with their stories about their "recovery": actors, actresses, musicians, all jumping on the bandwagon to tell about their eating disorders, alcohol and drug problems, abuse issues, their time in "rehab," their "programs." Not only did it begin to remove the stigma formerly attached to such difficulties, it made it "popular" to have them.

Another factor which perpetuates the ignorance is the "sour-grapes" attitude of many who have such problems toward those who do not. While peer pressure in youth often comes to mean youngsters being prodded to do things which they would normally not do, a backlash to this recover-y fad is a different but equally destructive type of peer pressure: those who have such problems, and have made no effort to deal with them, ostracize peers who are not in the same position. And when it comes to a subject like PTSD, which is much more commonplace than many realize, those who remain "bogged down in hell" often display a deep resentment toward those who have done what was necessary to recover.

In the recover-y fad which has swept the nation during the last twenty-odd years, people who have this condition which they are capable of achieving full recovery from have, instead, become enveloped in the misconception that they do not have the capacity to ever be "o.k." again; and that instead of utilizing the tools to get through it and come out fully intact, waste what could and should be the most productive years of their lives with years and decades of "support" groups, "programs," medication, therapy and counseling-- in other words, instead of using these fine services for the purpose they were intended, using them as a lifelong crutch. For many it is a matter of not having the facts; for others, though, it is a matter of leaning on excuses rather than standing on their own two feet.

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