angelvickie
14-02-06, 17:05
Hi All,
I became a member in 2004 but havent been able to get on here for a while & never got to post before.
I might aswell start off with my story...so from the beginning....
On the 24th August 2001, I was travelling in my (now ex) partners car on my way to great yarmouth on holiday (Im from kent, so was about a 3hour drive). My friends were travelling in the car behind us and about 15-20minutes away from where we were staying....we were involved in a car accident...our car ending up being the one stuck in between my friends car (who were behind us) and the car in front.
I wont go into too much detail of the next few days but...I ended up in hospital and managed to finally get home to Kent on the Monday (the accident happened on the friday). For about 6months after the accident....I began having panic attacks and suffering anxiety in any car that I would go in, but not knowing what was going on, I tried ignoring it, hoping it would go away. This ended up with me splitting from my partner and left not knowing what was happening to me.
To cut a very long story short, I was diagnosed with PTSD, Anxiety disorder and depression finally in 2003...after a good few trips to the doctors (who told me I would be fine everytime I went and not to worry)
I have good days and bad days and over the last 3 years, since I was diagnosed, the good days have been out numbering the bad days (with a few re-lapse's in between).
At the moment I have re-lapsed and worse than any time before. I find it difficult to leave the village that I live in when its at its worst and over the last year have only managed a few longer journeys. I start to worry before I leave the house about the journey that I am going to take, or if i know the journey I am going to take, I try planning stops for me. Hence, I know every pot hole and sign in a 2mile radius where the roads are so clear in my head. I suffer from panic attacks in the car, these start off by my legs becoming numb and i start feeling hot and shaky and just want to get back to my house (safety zone).
As soon as I turn round and know I am heading home again I start to feel a bit better. Because my house is my safety zone..I have slight agoraphobia aswell now. 2 weeks after the accident happened, I had my driving test booked, which I didnt take. So last year, 6th January 2005, I managed to take my test & pass (Looking back...god knows how I managed it), after having alot of help from a very understanding driving instructor.
So nearly five years on after the accident, I feel that I am no better, but everybody is always telling me I am getting there. Its just a very slow and very hard process on the road to recovery.
I can relate alot to nicolas personal story and sat crying for 10minutes after I read it, just to know that I am not the only one who has and is going through it (as it is very lonely...especially when no-one else can understand...as you all probably know.
Anywayz....think thats all for now
Ty for taking the time to read my introduction :)
Vickie xx
I became a member in 2004 but havent been able to get on here for a while & never got to post before.
I might aswell start off with my story...so from the beginning....
On the 24th August 2001, I was travelling in my (now ex) partners car on my way to great yarmouth on holiday (Im from kent, so was about a 3hour drive). My friends were travelling in the car behind us and about 15-20minutes away from where we were staying....we were involved in a car accident...our car ending up being the one stuck in between my friends car (who were behind us) and the car in front.
I wont go into too much detail of the next few days but...I ended up in hospital and managed to finally get home to Kent on the Monday (the accident happened on the friday). For about 6months after the accident....I began having panic attacks and suffering anxiety in any car that I would go in, but not knowing what was going on, I tried ignoring it, hoping it would go away. This ended up with me splitting from my partner and left not knowing what was happening to me.
To cut a very long story short, I was diagnosed with PTSD, Anxiety disorder and depression finally in 2003...after a good few trips to the doctors (who told me I would be fine everytime I went and not to worry)
I have good days and bad days and over the last 3 years, since I was diagnosed, the good days have been out numbering the bad days (with a few re-lapse's in between).
At the moment I have re-lapsed and worse than any time before. I find it difficult to leave the village that I live in when its at its worst and over the last year have only managed a few longer journeys. I start to worry before I leave the house about the journey that I am going to take, or if i know the journey I am going to take, I try planning stops for me. Hence, I know every pot hole and sign in a 2mile radius where the roads are so clear in my head. I suffer from panic attacks in the car, these start off by my legs becoming numb and i start feeling hot and shaky and just want to get back to my house (safety zone).
As soon as I turn round and know I am heading home again I start to feel a bit better. Because my house is my safety zone..I have slight agoraphobia aswell now. 2 weeks after the accident happened, I had my driving test booked, which I didnt take. So last year, 6th January 2005, I managed to take my test & pass (Looking back...god knows how I managed it), after having alot of help from a very understanding driving instructor.
So nearly five years on after the accident, I feel that I am no better, but everybody is always telling me I am getting there. Its just a very slow and very hard process on the road to recovery.
I can relate alot to nicolas personal story and sat crying for 10minutes after I read it, just to know that I am not the only one who has and is going through it (as it is very lonely...especially when no-one else can understand...as you all probably know.
Anywayz....think thats all for now
Ty for taking the time to read my introduction :)
Vickie xx