Not Ptsd? But Maybe Not "normal"?

[DMerish]

I believe that folks with PTSD may often have idiosyncrasies unlike other people do; that idiosyncrasies can contribute to feelings of being judged or separate from other people, and that idiosyncrasies may sometimes be mistaken as a component of one or more of a person’s PTSD symptoms.

If you have (or you know of someone with PTSD that you are in relationship with that has) idiosyncrasies and wonder if the idiosyncrasy is abnormal, or if you have idiosyncrasies that you know are simply just a part of who you (or the other person is), what are they?

Feedback from others is welcome since it could dispel inaccurate beliefs one has about one’s self, their partner or loved one. Or, feedback may shine the light on an idiosyncrasy that could warrant being addressed in therapy or by a medical doctor. Let’s explore: I’ll go first.

I wear shorts and sandals in the rain and cold, roughly down to 44’F (7’ Celsius).

I like sex but can’t stand sleeping in the same bed with someone.

 

[Spiderallis]

What a neat idea for a thread, nicely done @DMerish

I wear the same two styles of shoes all the time, chuck taylor sneakers or combat boots- usually Doc Martens. I get them in different colors but it's always the same shoes.

Come to think of it, I do that with a lot of things- like ordering the same thing at a restaurant every time I go, or watching reruns on TV. Probably a PTSD-related quirk, safety in predictability or something like that.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

This is eerie. I wear sandals all the time, all winter long. Well, I've started wearing shoes more, but I HATE socks. I only wear them when I have to in order to avoid getting blisters. I hate it when other people wear socks. It annoys me. It all started when I was 17 and saw the movie "Kids" where Telly had sex with everyone wearing socks. I. Hate. Socks.

Ditto on the sex/sleeping with someone. I always want to tell the guy there is no obligatory cuddling time (a la Billy Crystal in "When Harry Met Sally") but don't want to insult them.

I can eat the exact same thing for months on end. Once it was Cheerios and nothing but Cheerios. Recently it's been omelets, always made the same way. But when I'm done, I'm done. I haven't really eaten Cheerios since and I'm so sick of eggs right now just the thought if them makes me sick. Another time it was peanut butter sandwiches.

I like my foods either underdone or overdone. Eggs, runny. Pasta, very al dente. Steak & burgers, mooing. Bacon, burned. French fries, browned & crunchy. There are more, these are just the ones off the top of my head.

I guess I'm a creature of habit. I have a favorite tv show. I own all 7 seasons. I've probably seen them all over 100 times each. It's on all the time. When I catch an episode on tv, I can always catch the editing and it annoys me.

There's more....

 

[Mayday]

I can eat the exact same thing for months on end. Once it was Cheerios and nothing but Cheerios. Recently it's been omelets, always made the same way. But when I'm done, I'm done. I haven't really eaten Cheerios since and I'm so sick of eggs right now just the thought if them makes me sick. Another time it was peanut butter sandwiches.

I do this too.

 

[Promicarus]

Ditto Ditto Ditto. Einstein had a closet full of the same suit/ties. I wonder? Is it the comfort of the predictable? A combination of that and the fact that making choices is inherently stressful?

 

[DMerish]

Ditto Ditto Ditto. Einstein had a closet full of the same suit/ties. I wonder? Is it the comfort of the predictable? A combination of that and the fact that making choices is inherently stressful?

Promicarus: You prefer sandals to shoes? Don't like to sleep with others? Have an anti-sock thingy? Eat/Order the same things for periods of time? And stick to favorite fashion styles?

I'd definitely like to wear a uniform to work so I wouldn't have to shop for clothes or make choices about what to wear to work each morning, and I'd like a cook. Not that I'm lazy, don't like to cook or don't like to clean up afterwards. I'd like a cook so I didn't have to decide what to eat.

If we're talking what's abnormal and what's simply an idiosyncrasy I'd say the only things mentioned thus far that might be abnormal or boarding abnormal are maybe the thing Solara and I have about preferring to sleep alone and maybe the anti-sock thingy. But like preferring to wear the same fashions, neither of them is harmful/abnormal, are they?

I thought of another one about myself: I have piles and piles of papers about my desk and I have boxes of papers/documents. I think: (1) most of them are important but I don't really know because I don't deal with them like I should, (2) I don't have time to deal with them, (3) I am lazy/unmotivated to do anything with them. But I'd like all the papers put away/gone so I don't have to look at them. This doesn't make sense :O_o:

 

[Mayday]

so I didn't have to decide

I think that's a big part of a lot of my idiosyncrasies...is that choice/making decisions is a stressor that I'd prefer to do without a lot of the time. Maybe it goes back to being in a fearful environment as a child, trying to make sense of what was happening, thinking that it must have been something I was doing, making my own logic to rationalise what was happening?

I hate Subway for this reason. They ask too many questions...what kind of bread do you want, do you want it toasted, do you want pickles, what sauce do you want etc...I hate all the questions, all the decisions.

I don't have a problem with socks as such, but I can not wear socks to bed. Even on the coldest, most freezing nights...just can't do it. That goes back to being told by a teacher not to wear socks to bed, because a thread could get wrapped around your little toes and cut off circulation, then you'd lose your toe.

I hate anyone holding my hand. HATE IT. And I don't like anyone touching or looking at my feet. And I don't like looking or touching anyone else's feet.

I don't like cuddling after sex. Never have. I don't think I have a problem with sleeping in the same bed as someone, although I have a lot of issues with intimacy that mean that isn't a situation I deal with often anyway.

 

[digger]

Hahaha I love this thread - I'm just going down it saying Yep I do that...Yep I do that too...Oh and that one... ;)

I wear the same two styles of shoes all the time, chuck taylor sneakers or combat boots- usually Doc Martens.

ordering the same thing at a restaurant every time I go

watching reruns on TV.

I can eat the exact same thing for months on end.

I have piles and piles of papers about my desk and I have boxes of papers/documents. I think: (1) most of them are important but I don't really know because I don't deal with them like I should, (2) I don't have time to deal with them, (3) I am lazy/unmotivated to do anything with them. But I'd like all the papers put away/gone so I don't have to look at them.

.I hate all the questions, all the decisions.

I hate anyone holding my hand.

Yep, Yep, Yep , Yep, Yep and...

There's more....

...Yep!

 

[mytai]

And I don't like anyone touching or looking at my feet. And I don't like looking or touching anyone else's feet.

Me too! Although it isn't as bad when I'm wearing socks, but I still hate people touching my feet. Feet gross me out.

I'm with Solara on the food thing. I have a tendency to stick to one kind of food until I'm sick of it. Did it as a kid to the extreme, I'm not as bad now because I can eat different things at each meal, but I repeat the same thing the next day.

I don't know about the whole sleeping with someone thing because at this stage sex is just a big heck no for me.

 

[DMerish]

I'm laughing this morning from all of the answers/similarities :) :D :p

I hate Subway for this reason. They ask too many questions...what kind of bread do you want, do you want it toasted, do you want pickles, what sauce do you want etc...I hate all the questions, all the decisions.

I don't like to go to a Subway Sandwich shop for the same reason. But I like their sandwiches. Luckily for me, a few of my co-workers go frequently for lunch. I'll ask if they'd mind picking up something for me and bringing it back to the office, and when they inquire what I'd like I hand them $5 and say, "You choose. I'll eat anything except meatballs and pork, so surprise me."

 

[EverOnly358]

I wear shorts and sandals in the rain and cold, roughly down to 44’F (7’ Celsius).

My husband wears shorts and t-shirts almost always. He's so upset that in 2013 he's had to wear pants 7 times total. Yes, he keeps track. There was a business trip, a couple of important work meetings (he normally even wears shorts into the office (white collar job), but either he's so beloved there or they're just used to it or they don't want to listen to him bitch about pants... that nobody says anything anymore), then date nights to really nice restaurants, oh and one homeschool day we declared pajama day and the pajamas he has are pants, so... he was bitter ALL DAY. ;) And to be clear, we're in the midwest... he's been know to shovel snow in -10 degree weather in just a t-shirt, shorts, socks, gym shoes and gloves. I blame his Scottish heritage. He has a kilt in his official clan colors, but thank God he doesn't ever wear it. :wacky:

I love the house extremely cold... so we barely have to turn the heat on in the winter, but alas, in the summer we ruin our electric bills when I crank the A/C. My eldest daughter has been known to wear gloves in the house. She complained on her Facebook page once that we refused to turn on the heat and she couldn't feel her fingers or toes. I doubt it was that bad. If it was, there's the classic answer, "Put on a sweater!" (I'm not sure how a sweater is going to help with fingers or toes, but it's just what we say.) :joyful:

I can eat the exact same thing for months on end. Once it was Cheerios and nothing but Cheerios. Recently it's been omelets, always made the same way. But when I'm done, I'm done. I haven't really eaten Cheerios since and I'm so sick of eggs right now just the thought if them makes me sick. Another time it was peanut butter sandwiches.

Nigella Lawson has claimed to do this, too... eat the same breakfast for days or weeks and then switch to something new. :D

I hate kissing on the lips, love love love sex, love cuddling but only for a certain amount of time and cannot stand anyone sleeping in my bed with me. Makes for a really wacky combination. (I hate kissing because I feel like a can't breathe. I have a lot of PTSD-related problems associated with breathing.) :p

Sometimes I just can't make decisions... because of other people's comments, I was thinking specifically about what to eat, but it happens with other things, too. If I'm desperate, if I've been spinning on the choices for hours... I finally tell my husband what I'm trying to decide and what the choices are. And he picks one. And then that gets my Irish up, and I say, "Hell no, I'm not getting that. Just because you think I should get that!? No way, I want this." Decision made. :laugh:

 

[Abstract]

I wear the same two styles of shoes all the time

The same one style and one pair until it falls apart but yes!

Hate sandals for more than one reason.

Come to think of it, I do that with a lot of things- like ordering the same thing at a restaurant every time I go, or watching reruns on TV.

Yes!

I can eat the exact same thing for months on end.

Yes!

have piles and piles of papers about my desk and I have boxes of papers/documents. I think: (1) most of them are important but I don't really know because I don't deal with them like I should,

Yes. Horrible. Bane of my life.

is that choice/making decisions is a stressor that I'd prefer to do without a lot of the time. Maybe it goes back to being in a fearful environment as a child, trying to make sense of what was happening, thinking that it must have been something I was doing, making my own logic to rationalise what was happening?

This is what I have thought too. Certain environments such as work I have no problem but when that persona drops every little decision seems to be riddled with irrational fear. Not about perfectionism but rather that feeling that I will be in trouble!

issues

Yes. Me too. No going there.

I don't wear skirts unless I have leggings or trousers under them. No sandals and bare legs for me either!

I also never answer the phone and will always phone back!