CPT: Acceptance and Coping with PTSD

It's been a longer week than it should have been and way too long since I used this blog to get my thoughts out.  I wanted to write about one aspect of Cognitive Processing Therapy that has been really good for me and difficult as all hell - both at the same time.  The doc says accepting what happened is a major step in the therapy process that presents the biggest challenge for most guys.  Doc continually talked to us about acceptance and it started to annoy me how much he talked about it.  I knew in my heart of hearts that I would never be able to accept what had happened.

I have been thinking about this constantly for the past few weeks and I finally had a breakthrough two weeks ago that I never got to write about - I was unwilling to accept the wrong thing.  I finally made the connection that acceptance isn't about accepting the horrific things that I saw.  It's about accepting that there was nothing I could have done to change the outcome.  It was completely out of my control.  THAT was what the doc talked about when he talked about acceptance.

I was so relieved when I made that connection.  I felt like I had reached a guidepost on my journey.  And then, as the world always does, my world did everything in its power to challenge this new found clarity.  While I won't go into specifics, work threw down the gauntlet and I lost my temper.  I got very angry at work and caused a lot of people a lot of worry.  I ended up going home that day just so that I could regain control of my emotions.

I recognized what was happening and felt powerless to stop it.  It the past, this type of stumble would have sent me into a tailspin for weeks, if not months.  That didn't happen this time.  I was angry and agitated for the rest of the day but somehow found it within me to let go of the anger.  What had happened at work to trigger my PTSD was outside of my control.

Then, I simply accepted that it had happened and felt all of the angst and raw jumble of emotions dissipate.  I went to bed exhausted but relieved and woke up the next day feeling much better.  So, the concept of acceptance has taken hold and helped me to rein in volatile emotions.

I felt so much better until I saw how worried and stressed my wife was.  She was so afraid that I was going to regress.  She was scared to death that I was losing the battle with PTSD, that the PTSD was winning and she was losing her husband to it again.  I saw the fear in her eyes and I felt horrible, guilty, and responsible for her distress.

So over the past week I have worked diligently to impress upon her that I am not slipping back into the horrible funk I was in last year - that I am OK.  I explained to how much my ability to cope had improved since I started CPT.  While she understood what I was saying, it didn't lessen the fear for her.

And that's when it came out.

Because of turmoil and instability my PTSD can cause in our lives, she never feels safe and our life never feels stable.  It was at this moment that I recognized how much my therapy could help her and other caregivers as well.  I sat down and talked to her about my CPT and the concept of acceptance.  While I was talking to her I remembered something that her mother used to always tell her.  I reminded her of it and am going to leave it with you now, for there is much truth in the following words.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can; 
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; 
enjoying one moment at a time; 
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace