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| Guide to Recovering from PTSD Contents Introduction information copyright |
What is dependence? Dependence is relying on someone else too much for near constant support or aid. This can lead to unhealthy need for physical contact, attention, help, approval, or repeated praise from others. Dependency issues can cause difficulty and confusion in one’s life due to resistance to treatment, which is common. Veterans who are overly dependent may resist caring for themselves, feel helpless, cling to others, express somatic complaints, demand extreme care and become angry patients in the inpatient setting. Veterans who are dependent ltend to require a great deal of attention, affection and approval from others. They have difficulty comforting themselves. They need to have complete acceptance from others, everyone they meet! Friends, family, and caregivers become tired and sometimes stressed from attempting to meet all of their needs. They may borrow a bit of a personality from someone else close to them, perhaps a care giver, pastor or supervisor, having lost site of their own persona. This is dangerous when taken to the extreme and can be a treatment issue to discuss with the counselor. Dependency issues are complicated and require skilled intervention. Intervention is worth the effort and treatment can work for the veteran and family. Independence means freedom for the future.
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What can I do to develop a better sense of independence?
It is very difficult for a veteran to feel dependent and sometimes just as difficult for a veteran to regain independence when suffering from PTSD. Fighting for independence, however, is something at which veterans are pretty darned good! There’s every possibility you can regain more independence than you imagined with support and encouragement from the veteran community. The Vet Centers and service organizations like MOPH make these printed words more than lip service. The computer makes communication with these organizations very doable. Please take advantage of the resources at the end of this booklet. They are for you. Your quality of life will improve if you reach out and communicate with those who understand some of what you feel. Learning to participate in your own life once again is like being set free! Family and friends will welcome you back, healing will happen, hearts will open where you may have thought they were closed. It is important to develop positive coping skills to be able to communicate effectively, openly, and honestly with those in your life now that you are rebuilding it. You will be making changes that will touch everyone around you, having been dependent for whatever reason. The new communication skills you will learn will benefit you in every area of your life. You are never too old to begin again. Go for it!
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