Lived Experience Forum

[Jay06]

It's 30 years this year since I saw my mothers body dead on the road. I still having very bad nightmare as it has never been dealt with and now withdrawal from family. To the point of separation from my recent partner as I pushed her so far away and I need her back as we have two little kids together. As I can't do this by myself. 

[Paperdaisy]

Hi @Jay06 Welcome 💝

I'm so sorry, this sounds truly awful. Thank you for reaching out to us here. I'm hearing you can't do this alone and I don't think I could either. Do you have the support of a mental health professional? It sounds like you need some help working through this. Please know you are not alone, we are a community of peers with lived experience and we are here to listen. 

There are just a few things to familiarise yourself with when using the forums, the guidelines are here

To tag people you can use the @ symbol and type their member name. 

Our SANE helpline can be reached here if you would like to speak with a counsellor. 

I hope you find this to be a supportive community. 

Please take care

[Jay06]

I have no support by anyone.. been doing this for so long now.. but this year is the hardest one

[Jay06]

No support at all

[Paperdaisy]

I'm sorry to hear that @Jay06 are there any barriers to you accessing support? Anything holding you back? 

[Jay06]

Yes there is.. it's me breaking down.. 

[Paperdaisy]

Hey @Jay06 It sounds like you have been dealing with this for a really long time and things are particularly hard right now. 

I would encourage you to reach out to a trusted GP and put in place some supports. Blue knot are an organisation that specialise in trauma and may be able to offer you some support, you can find the details here.

Unfortunately we can't provide crisis support and I would urge you to reach out to the following services if you are feeling like you are reaching or are in crisis. 

Lifeline 13 11 14, or chat online

Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Samaritans: 135 247 

If in immediate danger: 000 

Please take care 

[NatureLover]

Hi and welcome, @Jay06 

I'm sorry to hear your PTSD is so awful 😞

To get some support, the first step is to visit your GP and ask for a Mental Health Care Plan. This will entitle you to 10 (20 during Covid) subsidised sessions with a psychologist per year. The only thing is that psychologists are so overwhelmed with demand at the moment that it could take 6 months to get in to see one. But it's a good idea to get on the waiting list now. 

You can help this process by googling then ringing round psychologists in your area to ask: are they taking new patients at the moment, what is the wait time for a new patient to start, what are the costs, etc. Then you can take a name to your GP for the Mental Health Care Plan referral. (GPs might not know which psychologists are taking new patients and which have stopped as they are full.)

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@Jay06 wrote:

Yes there is.. it's me breaking down.. 

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I think that this is a necessary part of the process of healing...but if you have trouble speaking about it, you can write it down for your GP and also the counsellor...you could even print out your initial post above and take it in for them to read.

Good luck getting the help you need...

A handy forum tip is if you type @ and then click on a name in the drop-down box, that person will get a notification and won't miss your reply.

[Crankenstein]

Hi @Jay06 ,

A psychological treatment called EMDR helps most people with single-event PTSD like yours in as few as 1-3 sessions. Many people practice EMDR, not just psychologists. I believe it can even be done over video telehealth. 

Please look into it. 

Peace