Do You Find Using This Forum Regularly Helps Or Hinders Your Ptsd Effects?

[Cool Cat]

Sometimes I find using this forum regularly really helps reduce my PTSD effects and other times I find it makes me obsess too much over them or be hard on myself that I am so affected when there are people with worse traumas here.

 

[joeylittle]

You might like this:
Reading Forum Increases Symptoms!

 

[Cool Cat]

Thanks for that! I will have a good read of it. I just find sometimes it really helps me to browse and othertimes it is better for me to stay away from it.

 

[Deleted member 20280]

I am so affected when there are people with worse traumas here.

IMHO it matters not the gravity of a members trauma past, the fact is simple, you suffer and I suffer, the members suffer and the staff all suffer. The common denominator is this, we all suffer and we are all survivors.

I offer a :hug: if you accept

 

[mephoto]

I understand where you are coming from @Cool Cat, I am new to the site, but have already found that some days reading others posts almost hurt more than help, but the chat has been amazing. For a long time I lived in denial that I was suffering, I told myself I was being dramatic because I knew worse things had happened to others, but Laurie is right, we all suffer and we all also survive.

 

[moonbeam]

Laurie is right. When I went to a group trauma therapy they told us to never compare traumas. All trauma hurts.

I find usually it helps but I also regulate myself to be careful of what threads I read depending on how I am feeling and may spend a few days away if I know I am in a too vulnerable place. Ultimately while everyone is here to support each other, it is my responsibility to try and ensure I am regulating exposure and protecting myself. I view it as a success that I can choose to do this and see the value in it.

 

[Cool Cat]

I find it very hard not to compare traumas. Like my c-trauma seems like nothing when I read some of the posts here, even though I know it wasnt nothing.

 

[mephoto]

I was recently explaining some of my life experiences to a friend. He felt the need to apologize to me about a lot of it because he felt bad for me. I told him there was no need to that and explained it like this.
My traumas are things that happened to me, like stubbing my toe, or spilling coffee on myself ... they are all unfortunate and all suck, how we respond to them is what matters, what happened to me specifically, could have happened to anybody. Yes, being suffers we may respond differently, and many times involuntarily, but we responded, we recovered, we survived. We keep going and coming to the realization that I am not the only one, and that people who survived "less or more" are surviving too is a beautiful thing. Beautiful thoughts, relationships and creativity, although sometimes filled with pain, have come out of what i suffered. Do i still struggle day to day? Yes, but i also live day to day. If i live day to day feeling like i was dealt a karmic slap in life that i just have to shut up and deal with, i wont make it, and some days i need reminded of that by others. I live with something that unfortunately makes living hurt some days, but again, I live. Even before i got on this site i began seeking out people i hoped would understand, and knowing others understand that has been very healing.
Your trauma is your trauma, we are here to help :)

 

[Friday]

My stuff isn't so bad. Not minimizing. For me, it wasn't. I lived through them. Cripes. I relive through them. :roll eyes: Even though some of them are considered some of the worse stuff out there (there's a helluva lot worse than mine people live through)... I already did that. The worst traumas? People don't live through them. They die. There's always something worse out there. Tortured & lived? Sucks. Tortured to death? Sucks more. Raped and lived? Sucks. Raped to death? Sucks more. If you're breathing, there's always someone worse off. Period. Not a contest ya want to win.

It's the things I haven't lived through, don't know if I could, that are effing bad. The devil you know.

 

[Friday]

As far as symptoms? Does it make them better or worse? Yes.

 

[Cool Cat]

If you're breathing, there's always someone worse off. Period. Not a contest ya want to win.

Yeah, I would have been brought up always being told "it could be worse"

 

[notsurewheretoturn]

I would have to say that this forum helps.

I live alone, so its nice to know that I'm not alone, if that makes sense. There are so few people I can talk to, even fewer who understand what I go through so to know that there are others out there stops me feeling so isolated.