Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Support Group
Find support with others who have gone through a traumatic experience. Whether you have chronic or acute PTSD, we are here for you.
Metaphor warning.
Me and metaphors have quite the herstory. When The Arf gets lost in metaphor, it gets weird. . . Downright psychotic. But still. . . Literal expressions don't seem to cover emotional issues well. I can't seem to find the proper names for so much of it.
Eldest son (36) has been in a rapid cycle for several weeks now. He inherited my hyper-active metabolism. A hyper-active metabolism can maintain a rapid cycle indefinitely, like a power-generating windmill spinning on its fixed point in a desert wind. The target of his current rapid cycle is the Significant Other he was on the verge of marrying. Was. Naturally enough, the rapid cycle tore right through that bond and morphed into a middle aged break-up drama. Break out the popcorn. The family misses the Significant Other. We were hoping for a wedding.
Of course his rapid cycles trigger mine viciously. Like fighting dogs in a pit ringed with spectators. Our respective support dogs are both in hiding. Literally. We both have support dogs with sense enough to respect their own flight instincts. Eldest son is just riding the cycle. It's cyclone season in Texas. I have my psychotherapy tool box open to the rapid cycling drawer. Is it progress that the stress aches of rapid cycling are painful to me now?
My personal understanding of Rapid Cycles came through psychotherapy for Manic Depression/Bipolar in the 80's and 90's. By the time the PTSD dx became available, my psychotherapy was nearing its current maintenance phase. I have never discussed the presence of Rapid Cycling in PTSD.
Any thoughts? Is Rapid Cycling a PTSD symptom?
Me and metaphors have quite the herstory. When The Arf gets lost in metaphor, it gets weird. . . Downright psychotic. But still. . . Literal expressions don't seem to cover emotional issues well. I can't seem to find the proper names for so much of it.
Eldest son (36) has been in a rapid cycle for several weeks now. He inherited my hyper-active metabolism. A hyper-active metabolism can maintain a rapid cycle indefinitely, like a power-generating windmill spinning on its fixed point in a desert wind. The target of his current rapid cycle is the Significant Other he was on the verge of marrying. Was. Naturally enough, the rapid cycle tore right through that bond and morphed into a middle aged break-up drama. Break out the popcorn. The family misses the Significant Other. We were hoping for a wedding.
Of course his rapid cycles trigger mine viciously. Like fighting dogs in a pit ringed with spectators. Our respective support dogs are both in hiding. Literally. We both have support dogs with sense enough to respect their own flight instincts. Eldest son is just riding the cycle. It's cyclone season in Texas. I have my psychotherapy tool box open to the rapid cycling drawer. Is it progress that the stress aches of rapid cycling are painful to me now?
My personal understanding of Rapid Cycles came through psychotherapy for Manic Depression/Bipolar in the 80's and 90's. By the time the PTSD dx became available, my psychotherapy was nearing its current maintenance phase. I have never discussed the presence of Rapid Cycling in PTSD.
Any thoughts? Is Rapid Cycling a PTSD symptom?
I'll be sending positive thoughts your way as you sort through this!
I have a good friend who is bipolar, and I've seen her cycle thorugh manic to depressive and back again, for over 20 years. It's clearly bipolar in her case, b/c if and when she takes her meds properly, she does very well. The problem is, "manic" phases can give her a high, a sense of "vroom, I am Wonder Woman!" and she will tweak her meds to keep her in a manic phase for *weeks*. Then she crashes into a crushing depression for weeks. And takes her meds for a while, and then.... Starts over. In her worst manic phases, she'll go 3-4 days without a single hour of sleep, before she literally collapses. So her bipolar is fairly obvious.
That said? How rapid is rapid? What are the cycles? Where is the baseline? Anxiety and mania can look alike to outsiders, and if you're not screened properly, you can get a bipolar dx when you're PTSD. Impulse behavior characterizes both anxiety and mania, but types are distincitve, from what I've picked up. (Having my anxiety be severe, I was screened for bipolar a few times on my way. So far, nope. Just PTSD. "Just".) For example, PTSD anxiety might make someone shut themselves up in a house for a month, wehreas mania can involve spending sprees. PTSD anxiety can get you involved in repetitive activity, as can manic phases, but the anxiety will be more in-turned, and hte manic more out-turned (again, in *my* experience and from *my* limited knowledge!)... E.g., I get anxious, I tear my fingernails to the quick. My friend gets manic, she peels paint in strips from the walls with her nails. (True in both cases, not kidding.)
So.... Any rapid cycling of mood indicates something awry in the metaphorical metaphysical meta-world of our minds/hearts. That's all I really got, after all that babbling.
Much support and good vibes to you and yours.