I was diagnosed with ptsd when put in a mental hospital. every night i cry myself to sleep, but i never stay asleep because i have nightmares. help?

Sane psychiatry: You've been through rough times. Life is supposed to be hard and it's unfair. The wrong counselors will make your illness worse. Recovery will be a long road, and will consist in recognizing concrete ways to solve concrete problems, focusing on what you can do (and do well), learning that you can cope, not hyperventilate, and not see yourself just as a victim. Good luck.

Work with psychiatry: There are effective treatments for ptsd, including medications that have been shown to help with nightmares. Stay in touch with your psychiatrist/treatment team. Keep your rehabilitation for ptsd going and you'll see results.

PTSD & Nightmares: People with ptsd are hospitalized when their illness is so intense that they can't keep themselves safe as outpatients. Usually this is temporary, and the crisis passes. Then you need to build an outpatient treatment team to work with on these problems for the duration. Healing can take time but help is available -- including for nightmares. Do tell your psychiatrist & therapist about those.

Prazosin: One of the medications that can be very effective in treatment of nightmares is prazosin. You might wish to discuss this with your psychiatrist or prescribing physician.