So about half a month ago, my car was totaled while I was asleep in the passenger seat...learned my lesson never to let anyone drive my car. Anyways, it's like 5 or 6 in the morning, all of a sudden all I see is the car upside down rolling, then the next thing I remember is hanging upside down being choked by my seat belt, struggling to find the buckle...That was the first time in my life I thought I actually might die, I thought I was either going to be strangled to death by the seat belt or another car would hit us from behind. (now i know no car was going to hit us on that back country road that late/early, especially without slowing down first, but at the time my mind wasn't working correctly and the only focus in my head was getting free from the seat belt) I reached up (actually down since i was dangling upside down) and unclicked the buckle. Then i crawled out of the window on my hands and knees on hundreds of shards of broken glass on the road, got up and looked at the wreck that was once my car. The guy in the backseat and I did the whole "no homo but give me a hug man that was way too close" thing, and there we were on a country back road with no way out and dead phones, so we couldn't call 911. We waited for like 20-30 minutes in pitch black waiting for a car to come to call for help, and the whole time my head was filled with thoughts of things like me having to get rid of my dog to afford the hospital bill, if my face would ever heal back to normal because the friend in the back said it looked really bad and not to look at it. Things like that. So eventually we get taken to the hospital, I remember I started crying and saying to the nurse "i'm sorry (for driving), but I almost fucking died!"and the friend in the backseat came into my hospital room after they were done working on him and sat by the side of my bed while they stitched me up until I was discharged. Now I have posted a thread similar to this, the whole story of what happened at the hospital with the kids mom picking him up and leaving us there can be read there. But basically, that was up there with the worst days of my life. TL;DR: The next few days after that, I suffered from random, intense anxiety/panic attacks that wouldn't go away until I lit up a cigarette or forced myself to calm down after a few minutes of deep, slow breathing. Honestly I can't remember anything triggering them-completely random. After that, up until this day, I've been in a deep depression because my car was totaled, my phone broken, everything, and the guy driving had the audacity to message me saying that somehow he ended up in the passenger seat when I remember clear as day I was in the passenger seat. The depression mixed with that turns to a somewhat sorrowful rage, sometimes I burst out in explosions of yelling and anger. And almost as intense as that is the feeling of being scared of the road, and almost terrified to bring anything valuable into a car with me ever again for the fear that it might be destroyed in another accident. I'm even scared to spend a lot of money on a really nice car for the fear that it might get totaled and go through the same dilemma all over again. Thankfully I haven't had any nightmares, but that could change in the future. I know I'm not talking to a therapist here but what do you think blades?
Therapy sounds like a good option if it gets any worse. Have you tried talking to anyone else (in real life) about this?
Defiantly talk to a therapist. Sounds like some shit. Trust me when I say dealing with stuff like PTSD on your own is hard, mine drove me to drink everyday, pound pills and monsters like candy, lie about how I was feeling and how much I was drinking, made me violent and try to commit suicide. I'm here; I know all about traumatic shit, inbox me bro
Therapy. It will help you a lot. Be specific and tell them exactly what you feel. They'll know what to do. Glad you survived though. Happy smoking
You might have PTSD, you might not. PTSD will have different variables for each individual person. I would definitely go talk to a doctor. For testing me they gave me some questions on the computer and the computer program then told the doctor how severe it was.
That doesn't sound like PTSD. I think you are just shaken up from it. PTSD is more like re-living it and having nightmares and such. Just my opinion tho
Get it checked out by a professional. But don't self diagnose and stick with it. That makes people look like asshats. An nobody values an asshat.
I've had PTSD (and GAD) for 2 years due to a bus accident where someone was run over and killed, and I've been diagnosed by a registered pyschiatrist. About 2 weeks after the accident I was okay untill I begun to get super, super depressed. Self loathing thoughts, panic attacks, crying for hours, bouts of anger. That depression lasted 4 months and thankfully it hasn't returned. But even today I still have things trigger flashbacks, certain noises it's pretty fucked. I can't say for sure you have PTSD (obviously) but you should look into finding a psychiatrist, the sooner the better because sometimes they put you on a list. The thing I found that helped the most was thinking about the actual event, while sober, remeber everything you could see, hear, feel etc. and constantly think about that moment. The theory is the more you think about it over time, the less painful it becomes when you have triggers or flashbacks. Anyway feel free to PM me if you any questions or anything.
Another PTSD person here. You had a significant traumatic experience not that long ago. You're going to have issues for awhile. The problems will most likely taper off over time. I have to agree with the others who say counseling is a good idea. Especially if the problems persist. What you're experiencing is definitely post trauma. It will take a professional to decide if it has actually degraded into a full blown disorder. Give yourself some time. Find a good counselor. Live your life. Keep us updated.
As a psychologist and former ptsd sufferer what I can tell you is that technically it's not ptsd because it's not been a month (it's technically acute stress distress disorder?. But it definitely sounds like if untreated it could lead to ptsd. So I would definitely recommend talking to a therapist. Because otherwise the anxiety and avoidance of certain things could continue to grow and interfere with your life more. Basically what we say is "ptsd is a normal reaction to an abnormal event." So even having someone to remind you you're not crazy and help you come up with ways to reduce your anxiety could definitely be helpful. Just be very open about your experience so they can work with you to figure out what would be most helpful. Feel free to hmu if I can help.
That's a close call... I'm glad you're ok dude. I don't have any experience and not much knowledge in PTSD but feeling anxiety etc. after a traumatic event is normal, PTSD is when that feeling of anxiety and stress stays with you for years upon years, and you can't come to peace with it, at least that's my understanding of it.
I think you need to come to terms with such is life and these sorts of things can and do happen, and you survived and it is time to move on because time will keep moving forward with or without you.
