It's official.

I am not mad and a highly qualified psychiatrist has told me so.

This afternoon I went to see the post-traumatic stress shrink to discuss how I was dealing with everything that has happened.

He interviewed me for an hour and asked me all the obvious questions -- Was I sleeping properly? Was I still taking an interest in life? Was I having flashbacks or nightmares? Was I suffering from what I think we can call "men's problems"? I explained that although the accident won't go down in history as one of the happiest episodes in my life I thought I was dealing with it fairly well. Some days I'm fine and forward looking, other days I'm angry and frustrated at what has happened.

He asked whether I thought I was suffering from PTSD. I said I didn't but I wanted to talk to an expert in case there's something lurking in the background that could rise up and shatter my well-being. He thought it unlikely and sent me on my non-traumatised way.

Actually, it was an extremely useful thing to do. Not having been in this situation before I don't really know how I should be behaving, what's a "normal" reaction to an accident and amputation. Just having someone saying that I'm coping well is therapeutic in itself -- and it means that if I suddenly turn into an axe-wielding serial killer my family can sue the hospital for negligence.

You can read more about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder here.

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