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anyone else gradually develop a sixth sense through prolonged trauma?

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hope4us

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out of all the negative ways the abuse affected me, i actually did notice something positive that came out of it. I never use to have a strong intuition, but now my instincts literally amaze me. I noticed it more and more as time went on. after i got screwed over by so many people i just stopped trusting everyone. but now ive changed. i always get a feeling about every person i meet. i can sense it immediately if they are trying to screw me over or steal from me or if they are up to something bad. and than theres other people who i can sense immediately that they are a good and helpful person, and they are not trying to do me wrong in any way at all. every single person whom i had a bad feeling about, i ended up getting proven right. i've warned friends about so many people and they wouldn't listen to me, and the person ended up screwing them over. and the other people whom i felt like i could trust, have never done me wrong. my instincts are always right. i get a very sure strong feeling, i cant pinpoint any specific thing that tells me if i can trust them or not, its just a strong feeling. does anyone else have this after prolonged trauma? I heard someone say that this is a common thing for people who have survived prolong trauma because they had to use the skill of sensing things about their abuser in order to survive the abuse. and this isn't a gift that "everyone has but not everyone uses it", only some people have this gift. because i remember friends telling me that they felt like they could trust certain people, but they turned out to be wrong about that because the person screwed them over intentionally.
 
I think interpersonal hypervig and different way of thinking trustworthiness can be shaped or outright changed by trauma but no.

Not a trauma specific thing. Normal growth, learning, personality traits and individual decisions, thing.

I also think believing in own ability to get ppl right because of a special gift, always, is one of the fastest ways to be dead wrong.

Perception bias & black and white extremes. No bueno for grey & colorful reality.
 
Hi ..it's definately a thing.

From what i can gather it is mostly a personality trait. I am aware of some who also experience similiar who have had great lives, come from healthy, loving & supportive families where there is no dysfunction & never experienced any real trauma in their lives at all.
(Side note: i was just as shocked to learn the same when it comes to finding solace & comfort in depressing songs, true crime stories, etc. It's a personality thing & nothing to do with trauma at all & shared by so many who have had nothing but flourising & rewarding lives. And pleasantly shocked too i might add.)

Apparently the trait only effects a small percentage of the population, however that still leaves plenty of us out there.

Having said that though, i often wonder too if either trauma or PTSD itself, helps to turn the volume up on it out of a necessity to survive.

For me it's a deep sense or knowing that i can't explain at the time. I find it very useful when it comes to business & hobbies, just seeming to know what to do or what direction to take or just as importantly what not to do or direction not to take. It is definately also what helped to guide me through & out of PTSD.

Unfortunately though, i do find it to be problematic when it comes to relationships or people in general. The proverbial double edged sword & all. To know & not be believed. To try & help, only to harm ..or make things worse. Constantly being misunderstood & a steady flow of blank cow stares looking back at you from others. Gotta love those blank cow stares.??

I honestly thought this amount of transperancy is how it was for everyone when they interacted with others & was always so confused when they would respond the way they do. It has been comforting for me to know that others struggle with the same things that i do.

I'm curious to know if you are also quite creative?

I hope you can relate & find it helpful. Either way i appreciate the opportunity to share.?
 
I get what you’re saying.

I call it maladaptive coping techniques from childhood trauma and hyper-vigilance.

Yeah I’m really good a reading people because it was necessary in for survival in a chaotic household. Knowing when someone was angry or about to lose their shit is incredibly helpful in certain situations.

It’s also a double edged sword. *My partner is angry* it must be at me, I feel in danger (he has literally never even raised his voice in my presence), now I’m angry wtf have I done? He should just tell me and put me out of my misery. *head explodes*

Turns out someone was rude to him at work and he was a little pissed about it. Nothing major, absolutely nothing a cup of tea and a shower wouldn’t fix. I lost my shit (internally of course because that’s the only safe way to do that in an abusive household) for absolutely nothing.

Like every other human thing we do. How we read people isn’t infallible. If I feel vulnerable and unsafe...it must be that prick over there the one looking at me. *me standing next to the specials board * wtf is he...oh wait. I am really good at reading people but it’s not always accurate and it’s not always a good thing to know how people feel, especially when they don’t even know themselves.
 
out of all the negative ways the abuse affected me, i actually did notice something positive that came out of it. I never use to have a strong intuition, but now my instincts literally amaze me. I noticed it more and more as time went on. after i got screwed over by so many people i just stopped trusting everyone. but now ive changed. i always get a feeling about every person i meet. i can sense it immediately if they are trying to screw me over or steal from me or if they are up to something bad. and than theres other people who i can sense immediately that they are a good and helpful person, and they are not trying to do me wrong in any way at all. every single person whom i had a bad feeling about, i ended up getting proven right. i've warned friends about so many people and they wouldn't listen to me, and the person ended up screwing them over. and the other people whom i felt like i could trust, have never done me wrong. my instincts are always right. i get a very sure strong feeling, i cant pinpoint any specific thing that tells me if i can trust them or not, its just a strong feeling. does anyone else have this after prolonged trauma? I heard someone say that this is a common thing for people who have survived prolong trauma because they had to use the skill of sensing things about their abuser in order to survive the abuse. and this isn't a gift that "everyone has but not everyone uses it", only some people have this gift. because i remember friends telling me that they felt like they could trust certain people, but they turned out to be wrong about that because the person screwed them over intentionally.

Narcs and manipulators still attract me. They make me elevated. I want to be around them. And within 24-48 hours I realize they are evil.

So it takes a bit. But better than years of getting messed with. And I am new at it.

I always was different. Normal non-narc people I "know" better than they know themselves often. You can not have a mask with me. And I have no mask. People sense I know them, the parts they don't like about themselves. I like everyone, or find people interesting as long as they are not "evil" but people often stop enjoying being with me after I notice something about them, they do not like to project or even deny to themselves. I
Am not trying to do it. It just happens.
 
out of all the negative ways the abuse affected me, i actually did notice something positive that came out of it. I never use to have a strong intuition, but now my instincts literally amaze me. I noticed it more and more as time went on. after i got screwed over by so many people i just stopped trusting everyone. but now ive changed. i always get a feeling about every person i meet. i can sense it immediately if they are trying to screw me over or steal from me or if they are up to something bad. and than theres other people who i can sense immediately that they are a good and helpful person, and they are not trying to do me wrong in any way at all. every single person whom i had a bad feeling about, i ended up getting proven right. i've warned friends about so many people and they wouldn't listen to me, and the person ended up screwing them over. and the other people whom i felt like i could trust, have never done me wrong. my instincts are always right. i get a very sure strong feeling, i cant pinpoint any specific thing that tells me if i can trust them or not, its just a strong feeling. does anyone else have this after prolonged trauma? I heard someone say that this is a common thing for people who have survived prolong trauma because they had to use the skill of sensing things about their abuser in order to survive the abuse. and this isn't a gift that "everyone has but not everyone uses it", only some people have this gift. because i remember friends telling me that they felt like they could trust certain people, but they turned out to be wrong about that because the person screwed them over intentionally.

What you're noticing is like an extra sense. I have it too. But, it is more like a very detailed notice of all the things around you. From the expressions on peoples faces to the clothes they wear.

I had a T explain to me how a child learns to notice different things without even realizing it. Kind of like an extra sense.
Example: "Dad was wearing his red tie the last time he hurt me". So now, when ever he wears a red tie, I am very careful of him. As the years go on, the child will notice lots of things as a way to cope and to try and protect themselves and try to avoid getting hurt again. I hate the color yellow due to the color of the walls in my childhood bedroom. So, I have no yellow items in my home. I also notice the shape of any lights on a ceiling, because I have very vivid memories of the square light in my childhood bedroom. I even notice the patterns and shapes on strangers shirts and clothing. They may not bother me -but I notice them.

One of the more odd "extra senses" that I developed was where the bathroom was in a public place-even when I have never been there before. I can remember family vacations and even my mom asking me where the bathroom was in a place we had never been.
As an adult, I can understand now why I "learned" this one - I always saw the bathroom as an "escape" or a "safe" place. A place that I could go to quickly - and lock the door - and it did not look suspicious to anyone if I needed to hurry.
 
out of all the negative ways the abuse affected me, i actually did notice something positive that came out of it. I never use to have a strong intuition, but now my instincts literally amaze me. I noticed it more and more as time went on. after i got screwed over by so many people i just stopped trusting everyone. but now ive changed. i always get a feeling about every person i meet. i can sense it immediately if they are trying to screw me over or steal from me or if they are up to something bad. and than theres other people who i can sense immediately that they are a good and helpful person, and they are not trying to do me wrong in any way at all. every single person whom i had a bad feeling about, i ended up getting proven right. i've warned friends about so many people and they wouldn't listen to me, and the person ended up screwing them over. and the other people whom i felt like i could trust, have never done me wrong. my instincts are always right. i get a very sure strong feeling, i cant pinpoint any specific thing that tells me if i can trust them or not, its just a strong feeling. does anyone else have this after prolonged trauma? I heard someone say that this is a common thing for people who have survived prolong trauma because they had to use the skill of sensing things about their abuser in order to survive the abuse. and this isn't a gift that "everyone has but not everyone uses it", only some people have this gift. because i remember friends telling me that they felt like they could trust certain people, but they turned out to be wrong about that because the person screwed them over intentionally.

Hello hope4forus. My trauma began with bacterial meningitis of my brain a craniotomy multi organ failure sepsis almost dying. I understand what you are saying but I learned and was taught these skills and will always be. Bias cognitive distortions physiological depletion etc affects us. Our comorbidities affect us. I do think from time to time ptsd is a gift from within. Right now I am a little overwhelmed with change and the trans theoretical model of change trying to get moved and my lifestyle tweeked.
 
out of all the negative ways the abuse affected me, i actually did notice something positive that came out of it. I never use to have a strong intuition, but now my instincts literally amaze me. I noticed it more and more as time went on. after i got screwed over by so many people i just stopped trusting everyone. but now ive changed. i always get a feeling about every person i meet. i can sense it immediately if they are trying to screw me over or steal from me or if they are up to something bad. and than theres other people who i can sense immediately that they are a good and helpful person, and they are not trying to do me wrong in any way at all. every single person whom i had a bad feeling about, i ended up getting proven right. i've warned friends about so many people and they wouldn't listen to me, and the person ended up screwing them over. and the other people whom i felt like i could trust, have never done me wrong. my instincts are always right. i get a very sure strong feeling, i cant pinpoint any specific thing that tells me if i can trust them or not, its just a strong feeling. does anyone else have this after prolonged trauma? I heard someone say that this is a common thing for people who have survived prolong trauma because they had to use the skill of sensing things about their abuser in order to survive the abuse. and this isn't a gift that "everyone has but not everyone uses it", only some people have this gift. because i remember friends telling me that they felt like they could trust certain people, but they turned out to be wrong about that because the person screwed them over intentionally.
Read an empats survival guide by Judy orloff. She is a psychiatrist and explains that phenomena. You are not wrong its a gift its like empathy on steroids. Good read. Good tips to cope
 
Read an empats survival guide by Judy orloff. She is a psychiatrist and explains that phenomena. You are not wrong its a gift its like empathy on steroids. Good read. Good tips to cope
I've been looking into trying to purchase that book recently. It looks very relevant for what I'm dealing with.
I read an article by her. It was so on point. I've a feeling I will feel "met" and that her books will describe how I struggle and help me get out in the world again.
 
I've been looking into trying to purchase that book recently. It looks very relevant for what I'm dealing with.
I read an article by her. It was so on point. I've a feeling I will feel "met" and that her books will describe how I struggle and help me get out in the world again.
It will do exactly that. She explains it's a gift and a curse. Kinda like a ferrari, amazing machine but it could also kill you if you don't know how to use it. I think the book offered some concrete practical tips to practice to manage this super power you have. Some may not connect with you or you may find some flaky a bit but give everything a fair shake before tossing it, the key word is practice.
 
It will do exactly that. She explains it's a gift and a curse. Kinda like a ferrari, amazing machine but it could also kill you if you don't know how to use it. I think the book offered some concrete practical tips to practice to manage this super power you have. Some may not connect with you or you may find some flaky a bit but give everything a fair shake before tossing it, the key word is practice.
I will do. I'm in Australia and unfortunately the books weren't too affordable for me, yet, but I'll get there.
I'm a bookaholic and spend way too much on books, but in this case, I think the investment will be worthwhile.
 
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