PTSD from severe child abuse?

Question

I lived in a cult for 22 yrs. before getting out into the real world. I was isolated from society & didn't know anything that happened in regular society. We didn't have radio,tv,newspapers. I was made to memorize whole chapters in the bible for school. I was tortured emotionally, sexually & physically for those 22 years. I almost died several times. It has taken me 22 years of therapy to attain a new belief system that I could feel comfortable with. I'm happy to say that I feel safe most of the time, but still suffer from hyper startle response & am not comfortable in crowds yet & noise bothers me a lot too. Any suggestions to further help me?

Answer 1

There are many reputable PTSD treatment centres in North America that deal with this. You have my heartfelt sympathy that you have been able to overcome the pain that you have suffered through. You have resilience and this will help you to continue dealing with and processing the pain and emotions tied so closely with this trauma. There are many grounding tecniques that you can employ to calm yourself during times of tumult. Please contact a mental health facility or organization in your area and ask them to refer you to a reputable therapist who can recommend the proper course for your journey. I wish you all the best and you are in my thoughts.

Answer 2

I can definitely relate and am sorry u went through that. I was sexually abused when I was like 5 or 6 (can't remember the exact age still). I didn't remember though until 2 yrs ago. Looking back, I had a lot of depression and anxiety and still do. To this day, it's hard to listen to anything loud and i can get really irritable even when my grandma is asking me a simple question. I'm on the fence about taking meds because I don't wanna gain a lot of weight and suffer from the side effects. It's also really hard to sleep for me. I can't remember the last time I got a good night's sleep. No matter how long I sleep, I'm still tired. I should probably stop talking lol I think you should try the meds and if you don't feel comfortable, stop. Don't let any doctor force them upon you or make you feel like you NEED them. Definitely start individual/group counseling though.

Answer 3

I grew up in an abusive home. I'm not sure how close I came to death, but I sometimes thought that my father was putting me, my siblings, and my mother in very dangerous situations. A few times my father took a shotgun after my older brother, but the worst didn't happen, and no one died from the violence. Most of the time my fear of my father made me cooperate, though there were a few situations in which I'm sure I would have died if I had obeyed him. We weren't as isolated as you were, but we lived in the country on a farm (something like slave labour). When I was older, I went to a church that wasn't severe enough to be a cult, but because I was vulnerable, I was too easily controlled. I managed to rethink the things I learned as a child (especially self-blame), and began to get on a more healthy track. I saw psychologists for a while, but when I began to see a psychiatrist she prescribed medication for anxiety (Wellbutrin) and racing thoughts. They helped me a lot, along with psychotherapy.

Answer 4

Well, it sounds like you have come a really long way and made some awesome progress - way to go!

If you are still in therapy, talk to your therapist about a non-compatible response, which essentially means that in situations when you are normally uncomfortable, instead of reacting with anxiety you would react with relaxation or something of the sort.

Otherwise just keep up the therapy and reasoning through situations which make your uncomfortable.

Answer 5

I guess by this point you have already been recieving therapy with a professional of some sort. The remaining symptoms of your early abuse will have to be dealth with in the same way as the resolved issues. You will just have to keep working with your therapist on these issues one at a time.

Answer 6

Looks like you are doing better than you think!

Relaxation techniques will help you get control of both your startle response and phobia about crowds.

Do you go for therapy? I know that a good therapist will help you explore your remaining fears. Once you understand their mechanisms, there are ways of altering your behavior that will greatly reduce them

Answer 7

You have to be cautious of PTSD and therapy, it almost ruined my life. My abuse wasn't as severe as yours, but all the therapy did do was relive old hurts and memories which I thought was detrimental in my life. I took a giant step backwards into hell.