You Know You Have PTSD When...

[JustBe]

COS said...you look forward to talking to your therapist until the day before and you realise you have to talk to them

Yup! That's me!:speechless:

 

[warathome]

You know you have PTSD when someone else's trauma gives you anxiety

 

[rainy_daze]

...when you desperately don't want to sleep because you don't want to have a nightmare.

Or when you desperately want to sleep but can't switch your brain off.

 

[Eric23]

When the Pharmacy staff recognizes you on sight/by first name and has the prescription you called ahead for on the counter as you walk up to the cash register.

 

[Spiderallis]

- you have a stuffed toy in your handbag and your kids have outgrown them

I don't even know anyone with kids! Friends and family have started giving me purse-size toys because they like it better when I get out my toys than when I reach in for the portable pharmacy.

 

[KatB]

When you can't tell whether you r alive or dead...

Whether the meds you are weaning off from is actually helping you or not...

When you cannot focus or have a clear attention on the things around you and what you can do...

When flying away seems like a far dream...

 

[Changing4Best]

So many of these brought me a smile or a laugh, thanks all.

You know you have PTSD when your toy babydoll says "nightynight," and you think of your father who used to say that every night to you before bedtime and along with your mother they rescued you from your abuser. They made you feel safe. And you bought this doll for yourself the Christmas before last and you are in your late 50s. And yes, you keep fuzzy animal toys too....

 

[blue-Ocean]

When simple things make no sense and complicated things do, we get so used to complicated that it becomes the simplest.

 

[Changing4Best]

When you recall your abuser saying, "This didn't happen." and it takes YEARS to understand the subtle nuances of language enough to realize that if he was referring to "this" and saying it didn't happen, it was REAL and it DID HAPPEN!!! His own statement convicted him right there and then.

We need to see the evil in this statement or ones like it. This statement HID the acts in my subconscious somehow, making me unable to see them until I was maybe in my mid to late 30s. I had no clue until then! It just happens to be that I was studying grammar at the time, when I started to see the truth. Before that study, his lie hid the truth!

 

[Err0r]

- the smallest argument with your partner leaves you in a fetal position, crying, thinking, "Its no wonder. I'm stupid/worthless/disgusting."

- You lie when someone asks you, "How're you doing today?", "How did you sleep last night?" because you feel guilty of constantly barraging them with negativity

 

[Err0r]

You know you have PTSD when someone else's trauma gives you anxiety

This is actually why I came to the forum (I'm new! Hi!). I was in a social situation when my cousin's fiance' had drank too much and broke down in front of everyone and told me that she was abused in her last relationship. It was a HUGE trigger for me (stressor? Not sure. I'm still working out the terms here), especially when my family embraced her, believed her, supported her. And they did the exact opposite (besides said Cousin) to me.

So I totally, totally relate to this.

 

[Changing4Best]

(I'm new! Hi!). ...my family embraced her, believed her, supported her. And they did the exact opposite (besides said Cousin) to me.

Welcome to the forum!

I have a friend whose family does not believe her, and it makes the pain twice as bad for her.

My father did one worse than that. He knew about his father abusing/molesting me and he didn't stop him. Then, many many years later when I asked him if he'd known (this is how I found out that he did) he said, "It's past the statute of limitations". He didn't even miss a beat, he didn't look surprised, he didn't deny knowing, that was all he said. I didn't figure it out, that he had known, until I talked it over with my therapist and she helped me to see that his response definitely was an admission of guilt.

Welcome into the light: we believe you!