Sufferer Former Missionary Kid With Ptsd

[boywonder]

Hi,

I'm glad I found this site. Everyone has been incredibly warm and friendly. I actually feel safe here, and there are few places about which I can say that these days.

I'm in my 30s. I'm a former missionary kid who was traumatized while out on the mission field. In many respects, that trauma has ruined my ability to lead a happy, healthy life decades later. Not a day goes by that I don't get triggered. I'm currently seeing a psychiatrist and a therapist who is doing CBT and EMDR with me.

I'm on the lookout for any friends who get it, but I am especially hoping to find another MK or two whose PTSD is rooted in a similar fashion to mine. I desperately need to feel not alone. Daily I am confronted with the fact that my world is growing smaller and smaller, whilst my triggers gain more power.

Please, tell me this gets easier.

Thank you for welcoming me here.

 

[oneday]

hey, I'm not an MK but was good friends with a PK so understand a little. Getting triggered is the pits and I feel for your struggles. I have just got over a bad one yesterday, but fortunately they are becoming less frequent with therapy. I end up in a mess though while I'm in a dark place. It makes you feel so awful and alone. People here understand though so it is a great place to talk to those going through the same pain.

 

[Friday]

The good news is, yes. It does get easier. :) The whole point with treating PTSD is to get symptoms managed down to where you'd be undianoseable... Even though it's a lifetime disorder. (A lot like diabetes or asthma, we'll always have it, but it can be managed so well and to such an extent that it doesn't even slow us down... Much less completely rule or call full halt on our lives!)

The bad news is that, first? It gets harder. In order to deal with symptoms? They're going to get a lot worse for a time. That's normal, and expected, and can be planned around. In part getting your life stable enough to take the hit, and in part getting you the tools down solid to be able to cope with symptoms (like grounding out panic attacks, but that's just one example amongst dozens of tools) as they come up.

Welcome to the community.

 

[intothelight]

@boywonder Welcome to the forum! :)

I am in complete agreement with @FridayJones that managing PTSD gets easier over time and as you learn what work for you. I hope you find the information and support here helpful with your own healing.

 

[boywonder]

I just found myPTSD's Facebook page, and I'm very concerned about the way in which our forum posts are also posted on Facebook. Although I appreciate that this is an area that should be accessible for everyone to read and get support, I don't understand why my introduction post was also posted to the site's FB page. I assume I gave some sort of permission for that to happen when I signed up here? But, regardless, I feel incredibly vulnerable. My introduction is private to me and I only want it shared on the medium in which I chose to post it.

If I continue to post in these forums, will my posts automatically be shared on Facebook? If so, I can't continue. It's just too public of a platform.

 

[EveHarrington]

If you write your story in the members only diary, it's not public.

Welcome to the forum. :)

 

[The Albatross]

Generic number of forum posts til you can get a members only diary.

 

[digger]

Welcome to the forum @boywonder . I hope you find a way to feel more comfortable posting here as the support here can be really valuable.

Generic number of forum posts til you can get a members only diary.

:confused: I think anyone can start a diary in the members section regardless of post count (if that's what you mean - im not sure if I'm reading your post correctly) You just need to be a member I think don't you, which @boywonder is.

Diaries in the Trauma Diary(members) section are not available to search engines, so I presume they don't go into the social media feeds either. If you have any queries or concerns though the best place to ask would be the help desk.

 

[cat-lady]

Welcome! Glad you are here! Thanks for mentioning the FB posts. I didn't know about that either.

 

[Deleted member 28403]

Welcome to the forums :hug: I hope this place helps you. It's very useful because of the bulk amount of people who feel similar and understand. There is a lot of advice and support to be found here :) I hope that this amazing community helps you as much as it helped me, reading all the similar stories, and learning a lot along the way. Hugs if you accept :hug:

 

[joeylittle]

@The Albatross - the restriction on number of posts prior to member's diary is no longer in effect.

@boywonder - you are free to start a member's diary whenever you'd like. As @digger noted, those diaries are not accessible to search engines and are more private.

I hope you decide to stay and post; many posters see their own posts and think, at first, that they are incredibly identifiable to anyone who might know them and might stumble upon them. The fact is, one - the internet is not a very private place, and two - what seems glaringly revealing to you is generally very vague to most others.

 

[Eagle3]

Boywonder, I know where you're coming from. I was raised to be a minister, but have been traumatized by the cultish nature of my parents' chosen religion. I've spent many years in the mission field and in the church but now I can't even hear a tv preacher without wanting to throw things. What used to be my only identity has become a source of pain and anger that is difficult to control. It does get a little better with therapy and lots of work, but it never really goes completely away. I still grieve for the person I lost all those years ago. Good luck on your journey, I'm here if you need to talk about it. :-)