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Relationship Isolation mode

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A text that I found helpful for me (May not be the case for other sufferers) when shit was hitting the fan in life (as is happening for many who are working while a pandemic is happening) and I had no capacity to keep up with relationships:

“Hey, I’ll assume we are good unless you tell me clearly otherwise and for now, with all that’s going on, I won’t worry if we don’t connect as often for a little while. Looking forward to when things ease up again.”

I wanted to run across quarantine barriers to hug them for being so understanding. I knew they were there. I knew they wanted to connect. I knew I had nothing to feel guilty about. I knew they understood. I knew they were not taking it personally. It helped me look forward to connecting to take the pressure off.

Take him at his word. Don’t set up things where he’ll depend on you to guess unspoken communications. Things really are nutty in many workplaces with so much changing so fast and for PTSDers it fills up our stress cups and many simply run out of ability to connect. It’s not lack of care.
 
Thanks @Justmehere any advise I can get is well appreciated. He's back to being unresponsive for the past couple days, guess I spoke to soon thinking he was coming out of it. I keep reminding myself "he said he's just checked out right now, believe him".
 
from the sufferer side....
Here’s a little pro-tip from somebody who has been doing this for awhile... don’t tell him you’re worried or upset about him isolating if he’s isolating and barely talking to you. That’ll make him talk to you less because of guilt, stress, or because he doesn’t want to deal with the demands. It’s not a good time for emotions or relationship talks.
this this this this!!!!!!
I have a really hard time talking to my supporters about how I feel and I will often assume that whatever I'm going thru is too much for them to handle (even with all the guidance I've gotten from the supporters on this site -- lol I'm a slow learner)

Isolation means my brain is eating itself and the people who love me are too needy for me to handle because they want something out of me and I can't figure out what it is. Usually, once my brain comes back on line, I realize that what they wanted was reassurance that I was ok and that I wanted to keep them in my life. But at the time? all I feel is suffocated. Because my brain is eating itself. There is no room for anyone else's emotions in there.

“Hey, I’ll assume we are good unless you tell me clearly otherwise and for now, with all that’s going on, I won’t worry if we don’t connect as often for a little while. Looking forward to when things ease up again.”
This! You have no idea how freeing this is. It means my supporters are allowing me the time I need to reign in my stupid issues without have to constantly reassure them that they still mean something to me.
 
He's back to being unresponsive for the past couple days, guess I spoke to soon thinking he was coming out of it. I keep reminding myself "he said he's just checked out right now, believe him".
Yeah. Relationships in the thick of PTSD spikes (and work being intense) are sort of like someone with a broken leg trying to walk. They can want to do it so much... but the leg has the heal up first.
 
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