Hello.
I am wondering if anyone still reads this blog. when I checked stats,
it seemed like a half million people have read parts of this blog
over the course of its long active and dormant lifetime. I was
shocked! A lot of bots and Estonian trolls must have PTSD! If you are
a human, and are in recovery or seeking recovery or just suffering
from post-traumatic stress reactions, please let me know in the
comments if I should make an effort to say a few more things about my
journey with PTSD and recovery. I could use the company right now!
When I started this blog many years
ago to see if there was anyone else like me, I was blessed (and that
is a pretty big deal for an agnostic:^)
to find out that not only were you out there, but that what I
thought, through shaming and isolation, was my own peculiar problem
was actually something that many people could relate to, even if the
details of our experiences vary from person to person. So if you find
this and it touches you, let me know. If there is no response, I will
know to let this rest and look for new avenues of support.
Hey there GettingBetter, I know you put up this post months ago, but I found it just the other day for the first time and have been taking a look at some of the posts and comments. I am relatively early in my addiction recovery, and am dealing with some very frustrating aspects of being required to put up with AA doctrine, but thankfully I lean quite heavily on the SMART Recovery program for help with a lot of my different issues. A huge part of my problems stem from my PTSD from a very abusive couple of decades. I have always been way too keen to give myself over to abnormal or harmful behaviors because of how much it has seemed that I could not get help with the PTSD. Couple it with being an Atheist and there have been more than a few people who were more than happy to throw labels at me, or simply assume they knew what kind of person I was without ever really hearing my story or getting to know me.
ReplyDeleteI think that you keeping this blog up is a good idea, and I can understand how bots can frustrate your efforts to share your story, but I also believe that if what you have to say can even help one person out there, then it is worth it. I know that finally working through my PTSD is going to be a long and involved process, and one of the worst things about it has always been the loneliness. That no matter where I looked, doctors, therapists, even other PTSD patients, seemed to struggle with understanding what I had been through, or even in some cases, just flat out didn't believe me. One of my lower points was even when a therapist blamed me for his turning to alcoholism. That one still hurts.
But I did want to let you know that I don't know how many real people come to your blog, but I did, and I plan on reading more articles that you've posted because I feel there might be something in there that would help. So thank you for telling your story, and I wish you all the best in your recovery.
THanks for your kind words @techie4700 -- obviously I don't check in too much cuz I just saw your comment today. I'll keep the site up. We don't have them in my neighborhood, but there are atheist/agnostic/free-thinker meetings that have really taken shape since I wrote what I did about AA, so that is new option if you have any in yout neighborhood. I also like Recovery Dharma/Refuge Recovery, but was not happy with either group after the split and out local meeting went under. Buddhism is not supposed to be a religion, but I found a fair number of people trating it like one anyway, in the unselfconscious way of a US NewAge seeker type. Sigh. I'm now mostly in an Al-Anon home group where they know me and don't get bogged down in doctrine or what you believe, so that is working for me. They read this "Obstacles to success" reading that is pretty effective I think. But my problems are more about alcoholics and alcoholism than my own alcohol consumption (still zero). ANyway, sorry for the super-slow response if you are still out there.
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