How do I keep a job down if my old job trauma is still haunting me?!
Question: How do I keep a job down if my old job trauma is still haunting me!?
I've been through 8 jobs in less than 1 year!. The first 2 weeks I am fine but once I start feeling more comfortable around my boss and coworkers I start getting flashbacks from my old job where I was raped and beaten by coworkers (and then blamed for it and was forced to work side by side with them for over a year, this was the military I could not leave) and i would go crazy!. hide in the bathroom crying for hours, cutting myself at work, and then just stop showing up cause its too stressful!. I am seeing a therapist at the VA, been disagnosed with PTSD as a result of MST!. Am getting 70% VA disability which is roughly $1000 a month and my rent is $700 (cheapest in the area) which leaves me with $300 for food, utility bills, etc!.!.which is NOt enough so thats why i need a job!. i tried to get 100% due to unemployability but the VA says that I am employable and wont give me 100% disability!. How can i put my past job experience behind me and be able to be succesful at a new career!? thank u!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
Can you get a copy of your employment records showing the
VA therapist your short-term jobs!?
I would, as a poster above has said, find a way to get 100%
disability since it is obvious from ER that you can not at this time hold a job successfully!.
Are your military service records available to you and your current therapist!?!.
One final question!. Is it possible to seek a second (other) professional opinion as to your employability and mental
health status outside the VA framework!? I would try this to
at least explore and challenge (if possible) the 70% disability
status VA has allowed you!.
I know what I'm talking about when it comes to PTSD!. I tried working for a decade creating a similar employment history to that which you describe in your question!.
I am not employable, but after therapy, I can do useful, long-term, self-directed volunteer work, some of which has become paid employment on short term contracts!.
Do not give up!. There is hope for you to recover and find a useful direction for your civilian life!. Good luck!!!Www@Answer-Health@Com
VA therapist your short-term jobs!?
I would, as a poster above has said, find a way to get 100%
disability since it is obvious from ER that you can not at this time hold a job successfully!.
Are your military service records available to you and your current therapist!?!.
One final question!. Is it possible to seek a second (other) professional opinion as to your employability and mental
health status outside the VA framework!? I would try this to
at least explore and challenge (if possible) the 70% disability
status VA has allowed you!.
I know what I'm talking about when it comes to PTSD!. I tried working for a decade creating a similar employment history to that which you describe in your question!.
I am not employable, but after therapy, I can do useful, long-term, self-directed volunteer work, some of which has become paid employment on short term contracts!.
Do not give up!. There is hope for you to recover and find a useful direction for your civilian life!. Good luck!!!Www@Answer-Health@Com
I say keep trying to get the 100%Www@Answer-Health@Com
The more you get freaked out at work, and the more you worry you will freak out, the worse you will get!. It becomes self-fulfilling prophesy and escalates into the panic attacks, cutting, etc!. Good for you for being in therapy, you absolutely need to continue that!. Anyway, the best idea I can come up with, and it will really let you know if your problem is entirely related to your bad experience, is to find a workplace that is dominated by women!. Make sure your boss and majority of your coworkers are women (or gay men)!. Women's bookstores, salons, etc!. (I don't have this fear, but in my male dominated industry, my last 3 bosses have all, by chance, been women, so it's not that hard to find!) You should feel "safer" around them!. There is no way to guarantee men won't join the workforce, but there are jobs/workplaces that definitely appeal more to women or gay men than straight men out there!. If there is a gay district in your city, go there! Forget any prejudices; it's truly a comfortable, non-threatening, friendly environment!. Please consider this!.!.!.if you find yourself thinking of a million reasons you can't find anywhere like this, it won't work, etc, there may be deeper issues about work or social interaction you need to explore with your therapist!. Good luck!Www@Answer-Health@Com
Hey hun, i'm so sorry what you have been though!. I'm kind in the same boat as you!. But it was my friend at my house and i'm afried to go home, thinking he well still be there and then I start to get falshback of my past!. Sorry to go off about me!. Is there a way you could talk to your therapist about your work!? and see if she can do somthing about you getting 100%!? This is a hard one hun, I'm trying to think what you could do!. Have you talked to your co-works or boss about this, so maybe they can help you though when it gets tough for you!? But only tell if you want too!. You don't have to tell everyone, maybe just one person!. I wish you the best of luck hun, hang in there!. You are strong and I know you can get though this!Www@Answer-Health@Com
I'm sorry for what you have gone through!.
Here is a suggestion, please try it!.
Meditation technique
Most of our problems stem from the mind!.
Situations are what they are, but our mind puts a whole new spin on it, often for the worse!.
This leads to a lot of the pain we feel, and being consumed by the pain we act from it, hurting those we care about!.
This is true for all people in all positions of life,except babies!.
So rather than be controlled by the mind, we should learn to control it!.
It is hard to directly do so rather we can control its most obvious manifestation, the breath!.
You'll note that when you are very concentrated you won't breath as much, or when angry shallow and rapidly!.
How to control the breath!.
Inhale and as you do pay attention to the column of air entering your right nostril(air enters both sides, but focus on the right side for now)!.
Exhale and feel the column exit on the left side(air exits both sides, but pay attention to the left)!.
Inhale through the left nostril, exhale through the right(same as previous steps)!.
Inhale and feel the air in both nostrils rise to the top of your nose like an inverted 'V', then force it all out in one breath!.
This counts as one cycle!.
You can go up to 100 in a day, and make a game of this!.
If you lose track of the count restart!.
As you get better you'll notice your breathing slowing down!.
Once you slow down enough, the mind slows down, to the point you can feel a space between thoughts!.
As you advance further you'll learn to identify yourself with that peace, not your painful past nor the vices you had!.
Good luck!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Here is a suggestion, please try it!.
Meditation technique
Most of our problems stem from the mind!.
Situations are what they are, but our mind puts a whole new spin on it, often for the worse!.
This leads to a lot of the pain we feel, and being consumed by the pain we act from it, hurting those we care about!.
This is true for all people in all positions of life,except babies!.
So rather than be controlled by the mind, we should learn to control it!.
It is hard to directly do so rather we can control its most obvious manifestation, the breath!.
You'll note that when you are very concentrated you won't breath as much, or when angry shallow and rapidly!.
How to control the breath!.
Inhale and as you do pay attention to the column of air entering your right nostril(air enters both sides, but focus on the right side for now)!.
Exhale and feel the column exit on the left side(air exits both sides, but pay attention to the left)!.
Inhale through the left nostril, exhale through the right(same as previous steps)!.
Inhale and feel the air in both nostrils rise to the top of your nose like an inverted 'V', then force it all out in one breath!.
This counts as one cycle!.
You can go up to 100 in a day, and make a game of this!.
If you lose track of the count restart!.
As you get better you'll notice your breathing slowing down!.
Once you slow down enough, the mind slows down, to the point you can feel a space between thoughts!.
As you advance further you'll learn to identify yourself with that peace, not your painful past nor the vices you had!.
Good luck!.Www@Answer-Health@Com