to feel quite shocked that DH has PTSD from teaching?

[FunnysInLaJardin]

Its feels pretty awful tbh. He has just today received this diagnosis and has been referred for priority EMDR.

He has taught for 25 years in a secondary school, and got out last year due to clinically diagnosed burn out.

I knew it was bad, but I never realised it was this bad.

How can this be allowed to happen?

Yes, I’m hoping is too. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I have.

@FriendlyRobin you are so right about the alienation of some children by OTT sanctions systems. My son is autistic and quickly worked out that if he was late (getting to avoid the others and crowds coming in) he would get after school detention and thus avoid them on the way out too. Things like being kept it at dinner or put in isolation were heaven to him and he dreamed of getting suspended so he didn't have to go at all that day. He hated tight collars and instead of applying common sense and making a reasonable adjustment for him as now happens with his brother at a different school they just went all out with consequences. The "computer says no" approach to sanctions just made his behaviour and attitude far worse than it need have been and he left school with minimal qualifications. If you're going to get the book thrown at you anyway it might as well be spectacular right?

I should add that these systems make life unbearable for staff too who have to deal with needless conflict and stress instead of dealing with actual learning.

But this is the point it doesn't all fall on you to fix it so don't burn yourself out over a job your worth so much more then that. If theirs aspects of the job you enjoy that's different but if your at a point of multiple panic attacks a day, suicidal thoughts, harming yourself, having flashbacks ect ect it's time to walk away. I have had multiple people i was close to end their life and the thought that some people do it over a job that they really could of walked away from with a bit of support is absolutely heartbreaking.

You don’t seem that supportive though. You haven’t recognised any of the points various teachers have made.

Another who isn't at all surprised OP.
I'm so sorry for your DH.
I am 15 yrs in and am feeling the strain. I work in secondary and in my department only 2 out of 6 are actual specialists - recruitment and retainment is at an all time low.
In this one academic year alone, 6 of my colleague friends have been struck - one so hard that knuckle marks were left in her face. Exclusions are always challenged so the culprits are now back with us (and have since attacked another pupil but that's another thread). Another he er colleague friend has a police complaint against him for pulling a 13 yr old girl off another girl - she'd attacked her and was gouging her eyes when he physically grabbed her. Parent has filed a police complaint and he's spending his summer dealing with that.

Staff simply aren't being believed and our word is no longer god enough.
So many delightful pupils but these are overshadowed by so so many individuals with emotional problems and behavioural instability. We no longer teach - we crowd control, firefight and provide emotional support before we even get to do the register.
It isn't uncommon for us to lock ourselves into classes to be able to have uninterrupted lessons.

I absolutely adore teaching but as time passes, it's glaringly obvious to see that there is a slow but steady decline in behaviour. Parents are often worse than the kids and we have no support from them whatsoever.

I've started thinking about other ways to use my qualifications that would bring me the same income. I don't think I can do this until retirement, far from it.

Because I know nothing about teaching but I do know about mental health. And I know their will be teachers on this thread who have had thoughts of harming themselves rather then having to go to work. Iv been at that point of suicide attempts, being sectioned losing my children. All I'm saying is it's a job please remember that and put your health first before it's to late. I wouldn't of even commented on this thread if it was just teachers saying how hard their job is as i have no idea I'm not a teacher and have only done a few placements in primary schools and a sen school but obviously wasn't involved in ofsted or anything like that. I commented because it was a thread about ptsd and I know how much that destroys your life and it should be a good warning to others to not let things get that far even if it means walking away

I wonder why teaching attracts so many bullies? I’ve never heard of a profession with so many accusations of it.

I guess the flip side might be it attracts people who aren’t very resilient and feel bullied. I guess it essentially is run like a business and may not be the fluffy caring workplace they hoped for

What about teaching adults if you enjoy the teaching part is that something you have thought about

The nhs does to their horrific

Could you be more condescending?

I’ve done it. It’s just as bad. Just for different reasons.

I'm guessing private tutoring is also the same aswell

It suits some. I don’t like it. It’s not a viable way to replace a full time salary though.

I can well believe it tbh. I don't think it helps that a lot of people associate PTSD with military combat (images of people picking up pieces of their friend after them standing on a landmine etc) when in fact it can be the result of many stressful situations.

I think without retraining or stepping down teaching is quite a hard qualification to use in anything else. As like health care their are so many different avenues to go down if your wanting to leave for e.g. nursing.

I'm hoping where past the days where people think ptsd is only something you get in the army.

I don’t want to be that person, but this feels pretty degrading to those who genuinely suffer with ptsd and cptsd. It feels like everyone is commenting saying ‘I have ptsd from teaching too’ without understanding the actual horror, trauma and effects that ptsd has on a person. I truly understand teaching is difficult and most of you have mental health conditions and stress disorders based off of it - but throwing around ptsd is an entire different level than I believe what most of you have experienced. I was in an abusive relationship for years - I have diagnosed ptsd and when I tell you it affects the way your brain functions, your entire personality, even messes with your physical health. At my worst, I woke up screaming every single night thinking I was being suffocated, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t snap out of the delusion I was in, I was in an entire different realm - it is terrifying. Throwing around the term ‘ptsd’ like it’s some minor stress condition is actually awful and degrading to true suffers who struggle to function each day because of it. That being said, I hope to those of you in the educational field and teaching that it gets better for you all.

Teachers who have been posting for years about the state of teaching always have their threads flooded with ‘well if you don’t like it, just quit’. This is immensely frustrating as it is usually just a way to dismiss the well-founded concerns of teachers. Along with ‘well not everyone is suited to teaching.’

Given that you have dismissed the fact that there will be kids without teachers in September because you think that your kids will be unaffected, this is exactly how you are coming across.

Today I’ve been bitten so bad I’m sat in A&E waiting on a tetanus 😑 the kids in pre-school are generally lovely if challenging.

I’m genuinely traumatised by the management and other staff members.

I am not surprised sadly. It would not surprise me if being on Jersey, a small community with only a few secondary schools, has contributed. Opportunities to move to another school in cases where there is bad management will be limited no doubt.

Disclosure- one of my grandparents taught in a small island and found it suffocating, so moved to a job on the UK mainland after only five years.

I would tell anyone to quit their job no matter what the job is the same as I would tell anyone to leave a toxic relationship if its making them suicidal. You have every right to share your concerns but this specific thread is bigger then that this thread is about individuals who's mental health is severely damaged to the point of being diagnosed with ptsd. Or a pp who hasn't been able to work again since leaving education due to poor mental health. If your coping but just want a vent go for it but don't ever put a job above your health.

@FranceIsWhereItsAt @Blackthorne and others. It's not necessarily the students who are the problem though and it's definitely not lack of discipline in schools. During my teaching career (I lecture in Uni now) schools became stricter and stricter and it made behaviour worse. I was spending more and more time enforcing the ever more finicky rules about uniform, homework etc. regulations multiplied exponentially which made everyone more stressed and tense. When I started teaching things were much more relaxed and students behaved better. Creating a military type atmosphere makes tension far worse not to mention stifling learning.

Don’t forget, the management have to deal with the parents. It’s not for the faint hearted, to say the least.