woodlandpath’s Profile
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About Me
Please, no forwards. My childhood and adult life has been filled with trauma - mostly of the subtle manipulative type and also not so subtle. I was a licensed professional until 1991 when I experienced the last straw (I should say brick). I have not been able to manage a job since, despite tries at a variety of work situations. In April 2007 I had surgery for sciatica on my left side and in January 2008 I had another surgery for sciatica on my right side. This was a big blow to me as until then I was very physically active. I have sought help from the "mental health system" most of my adult life and and for the most part gotten very little from the practitioners I have encountered. I have resigned myself to self-help, but often find myself overwhelmed and lost. I need to find something to live for in the second half of my life.
Interests
I enjoy designing and art in a variety of mediums, watershed-friendly landscaping (no turf, keeping runoff on my own property, using native plants, etc.), ecology, walks in the woods, reading about nature (and other things as long as they don't trigger me). I belong to a nature book group, I knit , I do volunteer work for ecological restoration groups, I'm an activist for stopping child abuse, for social justice, our environment., and neighborhood community building. My ability to do all these things is at times severely limited. I haven't felt I fit into any belief system I have found so far. The most important thing to me is to work on being aware, honest and always think about the interconnectedness of all things in my daily actions.
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Recent Activity
Yesterday
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woodlandpath gave Brillante an I'm with you 10:45am
Thinking of you and the hearing. Picturing you getting the SSDI approval today!…
Wednesday
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woodlandpath gave tarns a Prayer 9:42am
thinking of you and the transfusion on friday…
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woodlandpath commented on TLCDaisy’s journal entry WHEN LOVE HAPPENS! ~ The Plug-In~ 9:32am
Thank you for all the reaching out you do! It is true that the technology that is supposed to help us…
Monday
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woodlandpath gave tarns a Hug 1:45pm
Yes, it would be great to be able to get together for tea with someone who understands. Thank you for…
August 21
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woodlandpath gave tarns a Hug 3:53pm
to let you know I 'visited' you and I'm thinking of you…
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Journal
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Hugbook
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Hug
just dropping by to say hi and see how you are doing. hope your week is going well. big hugs xo
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Hug
hi my friend. how are you going? thinking of you as always. sending love and blesssings xoxo
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Hug
thanks for visiting. its a shame we cant have a cup of tea together. bless you heaps xo
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Hug
thank you for your wise words that you have written about my journal. that really helped a lot! how are you doing? i hope you are ok. ive been thinking of you. take good care of yourself my friend. love and blessings xo
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Hug
thank you my friend. how are things going for you. you are always in my thoughts. take care. hugs to you xo
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Photos
woodlandpath hasn’t uploaded any photos yet
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Support Groups
Close Depression
Type: Clinical (Major) DepressionI have felt depressed most of my life and my functioning in society went way down 16 years ago. I have also been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and post traumatic stress disorder/reaction and chronic trauma.
Treatments
- Celexa Not Working
- only on it a short time, must have had bad side effects
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Considering
- did some of this in day treatment which seemed helpful, but really over-simplified, and read some of David Burns' books - it doesn't get me motivated like when I read Alice Miller who is not an advocate of CBT
- Effexor Somewhat Helpful
- gave partial relief, temporarily
- Lexapro Somewhat Helpful
- seemed to help for awhile
- Meditation Somewhat Helpful
- felt manipulative because some emotions are not considered acceptable
- Positive Thinking Not Working
- to me it felt manipulative
- Prozac Not Working
- bad headaches, switched to zoloft
- Psychotherapy Somewhat Helpful
- helps to have someone to talk to other than friends and family - just wish I could find someone who was more that just a good listener. I want to find my blind-spots caused by coping skills I had to use to survive my childhood
- Trazodone Working / Worked
- helped me sleep, but made my mouth dry
- Wellbutrin Not Working
- seemed to help for awhile, but then after having a kind of rage meltdown at a store, I re-read the side effects which include agitation and quit taking it
- Writing Somewhat Helpful
- This is the most helpful thing I have tried. I use my journal (not my DS journal) to do a kind of synthesis of Active Imagination (Inner Work by Robert Johnson) and Inner Child dialogue (Healing Your Aloneness by Chopich and Paul and Self Parenting by Pollard)
- Zoloft Somewhat Helpful
- seemed to work, quit taking it because my doctor said I was ready. I continued to feel better after quitting. About a year later I became very depressed again, and took it again, but then it did not help at all
Close Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Soul murder. Dissociative type from abuse, medical and other traumas in childhood and continuing chronic trauma with abusive relationships at home, college professor and at work, plus more medical trauma with my son. I have trauma related severe depression and fibromyalgia.
Treatments
- Alpha-Stim Considering
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Considering
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Considering
- Although this wasn't designed for trauma and I wondered if my therapist knew what she was doing when she recommended it, I see that it has a high rating in this group so I think I will do it. I may have a long wait to get into a group - maybe three months.
- Effexor Somewhat Helpful
- Very nice soothing effect at first, but that wore off and all my symptoms gradually returned. Doctor switched me to Lexapro.
- EMDR Considering
- My therapist discussed my situation with an EMDR therapist and I have done some reading about it in books and I get the impression it works much better for someone with a single trauma. I have many different traumas of very different types.
- Inderal Considering
- Psychiatrist not interested in trying this.
- Psychotherapy Not Working
- Therapists I have been to don't seem to know to help. I will be having a consultation with a therapist who is supposed to know a lot about trauma 26 Feb 08.
- Rape Counseling Not Working
- Went to the Sexual Violence Center and they were not interested - maybe they only count it as violence if it leaves visible wounds.
- Reading Somewhat Helpful
- Stalking the Soul by Marie-France Hirigoyen Sex in the Forbidden Zone by Peter Rutter Alice Miller - several books
Open Fibromyalgia
Since I was in my 20s I have had throbbing pain centered in my mid-back when it gets really intense my whole body throbs with pain and it is hard to bear - almost bad enough to go to the emergency room. Maybe 10 years ago my doctor said it's probably Chronic Myofascial Pain. I had a remission that lasted several years, but now it is starting to come back.
Treatments
- 5-HTP Not Working
- Acupuncture Somewhat Helpful
- Not effective enough for me to work - so had to quit because I couldn't afford it.
- Clonazepam Working / Worked
- My doctors hate prescribing this even though I have taken it many years and have not had trouble with addiction I still often have to listen to lectures about how I shouldn't be taking this because it is addictive. I take up to 3 mg per day as needed. If I could rate it very helpful I would, because it is not quite good enough to say it works, but seems better than somewhat helpful. I wish I knew why the pain went away totally for a few years and is now back.
- TENS Somewhat Helpful
- Helps, but I find it incovenient with the wires and control box attached to my body and it is hard for me to reach to get the pads onto the places on my back where te worst pain happens.
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Snapshot
Recently …
- 3 hugs given
- 3 hugs received
- 5 journal comments
