How Can I Properly Express Feelings When I Don't Know Myself?

[einzelganger]

This a question I have tried for years to understand. I have spent many hours with a past T trying to understand, to no avail.

My mind runs constantly and my emotions seem all out of whack. I'm torn between the need to explain myself and the need to pull away. It's confusing. When I try to share with people I care about what is going on with me, normally they don't understand or get upset or get defensive. All of those things make me close down even more or beat myself up for saying anything in the first place.

I know communication is one of the keys to a healthy relationship but what do you do when you get it wrong 9 times out of ten?

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I think I'm confused. Are you saying your feelings are wrong or the way you express how you're feeling to others?

 

[intothelight]

Hi Wunjo,

Expressing what a person is feeling is really difficult with PTSD, and it is not uncommon to be unable to even identify them. There is actually a thread on here where people try to identify, not what they are thinking, but what they are feeling on a daily basis.

Sometimes I have to really sort things out before I even attempt to explain, as I am not sure I am understanding it correctly myself. Once I get it strait in my own head, it is much easier to explain or have a conversation with someone else. I know that if I attempt to do it when I am symptomatic or my emotions are running out of control, it just comes out all wrong.

Check out DBT as I have found this very helpful in dealing with the emotional side of PTSD.

Debbie