The Road To Recovery
There is no single cure for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There are lots of ways to get better, and even more ways to get worse. PTSD is not a single disorder with a single cause, and what works for one person may not work for another.
How you deal with PTSD depends significantly on the resources you bring to bear on the problem. If your inner resources are extensive and strong, the road to recovery may be short and straightforward. If you lack inner resources, recovery will be more challenging, and the journey will be arduous and long.
Winning the battle for a positive mind may be the hardest thing you ever do. But you need to understand that it is possible to win the battle.
Make no mistake about it. You can win this battle, but you have to do things right to push the odds of recovery in your favor.
If you think that you can develop a positive mind while focusing on your inner pain, you are sadly mistaken. A negative mental focus never produces a positive mind. A destructive focus never results in a constructive outcome.
Some people require medication to get them over the hump of despair, depression, anxiety, and agitation. Others need therapy by trained professionals to get them on the right track. Support groups may be just what the doctor ordered. Even talking with your pastor, family, and friends may make a huge difference in how quickly you recover.
There is no single path you must take on the road to recovery. The important thing is that you move forward and that you don't stop along the way. This is a journey that never ends, because your life keeps getting better and better. There is no limit to how good your life can become if you keep moving forward. You may not feel like you are much right now, but that is not what is important. It's not where you have been that is important; it's where you are going and what you become that really counts.
The name of the road to recovery is called an "Outward Focus."
Inward focus makes you sick, and an outward focus starts the healing.
The hardest thing for a wounded warrior to do is to stop focusing on his own wounds and to start helping others heal their wounds. When you focus on your inward pain, your life becomes a living hell full of despair, resentment, and limitations. The instant you focus on other people's pain and start helping them, your own healing begins.
The circle of healing and love works best with an outward focus. When you open your heart and mind to love and pass that love on to hurting people, two persons get healed. You get healed, and the other person gets healed as well. The more love you let into your heart, and the more you pass on to others, the faster you are healed.
The more you focus on your inner pain and misery, the more it increases, and the worse you become. It's almost as if your healing resources evaporate in front of your eyes. If you want to sink into the pit of depression and despair, all you need to do is to continually focus on your own problems. What you focus on expands, and there is a one hundred percent chance that misery will expand into your life.
Conversely, the more you focus on the needs and healing of others, the quicker you are healed.
I would be lying if I told you it is easy to look past your pain and develop an outward focus.
I vividly remember when I was run over by the Mac Truck of Life in a car accident and nearly died. When my body screamed in pain, it was hard to focus on anything else. But eventually the pain subsided, and I developed an outward focus that made recovery possible.
People who have PTSD are uniquely qualified to help other people who also suffer from PTSD.
When I had two broken legs, a broken shoulder, five broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a chest tube in place, I wanted to punch anyone in the face who came to my bedside and said, "I know how you feel." If they did not have two broken legs, a broken shoulder, broken ribs, and a chest tube, they clearly did not know how I felt. If their body was not screaming at them in pain, they definitely did not know how I felt. I have been down that road, and whenever I meet someone in the ICU with a broken body, I can honestly say, "I know how you feel." My prior injuries make me uniquely qualified to talk to other people who have massive traumatic injuries.
If you have PTSD, you are an authority on PTSD because you have been there and done that. The important thing is to move forward with an outward focus so that your PTSD becomes an asset that you use to help other people.
It's time to fight the good fight. It's time to marshal your resources, stand on your unique qualifications, and move to a higher level. It's time to stop focusing on your inward pain. It's time to adopt an outward focus. It's time to be a positive warrior in the battle against PTSD.
If you want to learn more about winning the battle for a positive mind, read Zero Tolerance to Negative Thinking. And if you want to learn how positive spirituality can help you develop a healthy heart and mind, read Real Power: Maxing Out on God's Love.
If you want to have a mind free from depression, nobody can stop you.
