You Know You Have PTSD When...

[Changing4Best]

When you open the fridge door and recognize the sugar doesn't belong there...

I put my purse in the fridge one time and left the milk out on the counter. Hubby and I searched the entire house for the purse and when he went to replace the milk I'd left out, he called me to look in the fridge and swore up and down that he had NOT placed it there as a joke.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

When you're watching tv with your family and you realize the tv is way too loud. And then someone takes a phone call and starts talking louder than the tv. And then someone else comes in eating and crunching very loudly. And then you're suddenly aware of every single sound in the room. And all of the sounds are so loud you feel completely over stimulated.

 

[p-no]

and swore up and down that he had NOT placed it there as a joke

Sheila, I once (as a teenager :eek:) had an appointment and was running late. I was looking for my keys all over the place and couldn't find it. Got all agitated and angry and started hissing into the air. Then, too late to make it on time, I find myself standing in front of my door ready to go yet giving up, raising my left fist acknowledging defeat. Look at my fist. Look some more. Finally I get what I see: my set of keys! Right there in my left fist! Where it's been all that time! I sure as heck don't need a hubby to play jokes! I do it myself! :D

 

[p-no]

When you have to turn the tv off because you've been watching a tv series and have kept calling out for ten minutes: "But that's the blind lady from 'Mr. Monk and the Red-headed Stranger'!" and you can't wrap your head around an actress being in two different series in different roles and it takes your brain more time to adjust to this than the episode you've currently been watching.

 

['91 Girl]

you can't wrap your head around an actress being in two different series in different roles and it takes your brain more time to adjust to this than the episode you've currently been watching.

Especially when it goes from good character to bad character or vice versa!

 

[Nighthawk]

When being sick is second nature as it comes with the territory.

When you question wether or not the calm in your brain is you going nuts or you achieving a new place.

 

[LaurieJ]

When you cannot remember new people's names or faces.

When your short term memory is seriously lacking and you don't know what to do to fix this or even if you even can fix it.

 

['91 Girl]

When you have more memory problems than your 70 year old grandmother :confused:

 

[Core]

When you relate to the people on the TV series Lost, because their lives are completely absurd too.

 

[Changing4Best]

When you cannot remember new people's names...your short term memory is seriously lacking and you don't know what to do to fix this....

My psychiatrist told me that word games like Scrabble and crosswords can help; my MD told me reading novels (which require that you recall names) and walking can help. Also, be sure to breath deeply and look at things whenever you think of it. Oxygen and keeping one's mind focused on the present are very important.

Also, there is a website: dbtselfhelp.com which has some videos in the INSTANT MINDFULNESS category that I find very helpful in those last 2 things. DBT stands for Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.

And to do with recalling names, they say to compare or twin up the new name with someone or something that sounds like it to help you recall it. So Susan Beecher could be recalled by twinning her up with Susan B. Anthony, the one on the dollar coin (if I recall correctly)! ;) and David Turley could be matched up with a turtle.

 

[KatB]

when the time of the month comes and makes everything more challenging...

when laying in bed with cramps is like the end of the world for you b/c the pain feels worse than ptsd...

whether you're more depressed/sad because you're in a place that is unlike your regular env't or b/c it's a place that reminds you of what you miss/want/need...

when you dislike feeling shame b/c the money used was not yours...( yet it was given to you willingly)

when you feel time pass by soooooooooooo slow it's only been an hr that's passed by...

when you cannot stop writing about this.

 

[Changing4Best]

This is my favorite thread on the whole forum, the laughs are precious!