Is It Typical For A Person With PTSD To Act Tough?

[AvoidanceRulez]

I am a female and I can shock most men and seem tougher than them---kinda animalistic. I dont really believe that is me, but it's a role I play to feel safe . I also have noted that when I feel threatened, I don't blink---again, kinda animalistic
Is being animalistic common/normal for PTSD?


I wasn't quite sure where to put this

 

[Deleted member 541]

I don't think it's common for PTSD.... But, I can tell you from my own experience, that I too was tough growing up & into my adult years. I had to be to survive the abuse, and my 2 older brothers. To this day, I am not afraid of many people, but it's not an act for me.....

 

[Nicolette]

I don't think acting 'tough' and 'shocking' most men is the same thing. Wendy, like she says is tough due to her life, I have become tougher due to what I have gone through. Being tough to get a reaction is a different mindset IMHO. Wendy and I don't do it to get a reaction - it has become a part of who we are. Like you say you are role playing so I would be asking myself is this a learned behavior for getting attention or something else?

Feeling threatened and not blinking is also nothing to do with being tough IMHO. At a guess it is a protective mechanism to make sure you don't miss anything or something of the likes?!

 

[Iam]

Like Nicolette and Wendy, I am tough because it was the only way I could survive. I am not afraid of people because I know I can and have to take care of myself. It is not something I use as a ruse to fool people, it is strictly internal and who I am. Was I born to be a tough person.....I don't think so. I think it was a learned trait....be tough or go insane.

 

[Aine]

I know other people see me as strong, which is something that personally mystifies me. I don't see myself as strong or tough and like you, sometimes I act tougher than I feel by talking or acting big, even though I know it's stupid.
Logically, I must be strong. I raised myself and my siblings and took care of our household and still managed to get through school and then get out of the abusive environment I was in, but I feel weak. I feel my CPTSD is weakness and that if I were stronger, I'd be okay and I'd be able to function in normal society. I guess it's all about perspective.

Love and Light,

Aine

 

[Iam]

Aine, you are strong. You could not have survived your traumas if you weren't. There is an article on the home page about how we all feel it's weak that we have PTSD or C-PTSD. It talkes about the force of a knife cutting thru your skin. Is it because your skin is weak or because the knife is sharp. The answer is pretty obvious. Our PTSD is a normal reaction to abnormal situations. That doesn't make us weak, it makes us normal human beings.

You are STRONG because you are willing to accept where you are at and are working on handling it better. That takes tremendous COURAGE!

((BIG HUGS))