Yep, you get your diagnosis and you become a Winner…. believe it or not, you really do become a winner when you get diagnosed with PTSD. Dont believe me? Indulge me a bit.
A funny thing happens when you get diagnosed. You get vindicated. There become a reason for all the strange things that are happening to you. That’s right, the nightmares, the flashbacks, the anxiety, the irritability, the craziness is happening for a reason and you now know why. You have PTSD. You can access the resources, you can seek out treatment and you can finally understand why. But your diagnosis is also the start of the hard work still ahead of you.
The funny thing is that with a diagnosis of PTSD, you will also get a couple of other diagnoses thrown in for fun. For me, on top of the PTSD diagnosis, I have recently been diagnosed with depression or should I say a major depressive episode. That is over and above the depression that is entwined within PTSD, along with anxiety, insomnia, flashbacks and everything else. Does it change anything? Not really but it definitely provides more perspective as to what is going on for me daily.
All this to say that I have PTSD according to the DSM version 5 with a side dish of depression thrown in for fun. As bad as it sounds and truly is, once you get diagnosed, you have a few choices to make on what you do with it. For me, it was an easy choice, I got help. And I continue to seek out other means to get help with my focus being on finding a group comprised of first responders for a peer to peer connection. Basically, it’s because as much as I write about it, I only those that are going down the same path know what you mean.
The other choice I made might sound a little strange but I am trying to make my diagnosis a positive. I’m taking this opportunity to become better, stronger and more alive. I made the choice to allow PTSD to be a first place ribbon. To Win the battle with PTSD.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner. It all in how you frame it.