Friday, really well said. I see that we were working out of different rulebooks. I think in some ways, in the long run, your rulebook gave you a better (healthier) escape, or even just an escape, from your trauma. Still you have a bunch of challenges to deal with, no doubt. When my mother...
Sietz, I am a dog person, mainly. I think the key with dogs is to make sure they know, that they, and you, are in the same pack. I still love cats, but you have to work hard to keep that relationship on an even keel. They are much more intelligent than people give them credit for being. The big...
One night, when I was three years old I was put to bed in my crib in my own separate room. I woke up screaming in the middle of the night as I was being mauled by a 15 to 20 pound Siamese cat named Fifi. She had apparently jumped down from the dresser into the crib and was clawing and biting me...
One thing that I just wanted to add, is that a very strong theme that I have had throughout my life is abandonment, alienation and a profound sense of having been left behind. This theme runs hard through some of the movies like Platoon, The Deer Hunter and Black Hawk Down, and it hits me like a...
Swift, I think I get your point. I generally don't have a disassociating experience without cause. There is always a trigger of some sort. For me it is more like paralysis, while experiencing extreme stress. It's an altered state of consciousness. I can't remove myself from this altered state...
Pipps, often when I am watching a war or spy movie in certain scenes I am shocked back (flashback) to some event in my history that instantly puts me into some quasi catatonic state where I freeze up and I am utterly consumed by the event on screen. I can sometimes stay in that state for a...
I have continuous selective mutism amongst the general population . I have found that, thru no fault of their own, most people don't believe me, don't understand me, don't relate to me at all, or simply don't care. The big exception are combats vets. I can open up to them and they get it and I...
@littleoc Thanks littleoc. We all are saddened when friends and family pass. When someone like my friend passes unexpectedly it is devastating to a whole lot of people. He was an extraordinary healer and spirit. He made people want to be better human beings. A leader like him does not come along...
Thank you for relating your experiences in Barcelona. My memories of Barcelona include a bullfight I went to where El Cordorbes (sp?) was injured by the bull. Not a good day at the office for him... I too have been on the receiving end of terrorism along with a friend of mine in Libya. I got the...