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Sufferer Looking For Understanding

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JV04

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Hi. I'm new to this and so a little scared and also unsure of how to connect to people online - I don't/haven't done this sort of thing.

I have c-ptsd, anxiety and depression. I'd like to believe most of the time, I manage it well, but with that being said, almost too well and then, at times, not well enough. I function very highly professionally, but personally, it's been a very rough struggle for me to build and maintain relationships. I know I own part of this, since it's very hard for me to feel close to anyone.

I have an expectation that once I do feel close enough to someone and let them in on my health diagnosis and what I do struggle with (nightmares, flashbacks, flooding emotions, triggers) and what I have been through, that they should respond in kind, meaning I believe once I've opened up, that creates a deep connection with the person (any relationship applies) and they should 'understand' what I need in times of crisis, if I happen to be in crisis. But in reality, what has happened and what I notice is that they truly don't understand, I sense they look or respond to me like I'm an "alien", and I also notice they don't even try to understand. Frustrations are then felt all around, and I wind up leaving the relationship or they do.

The totality of what I have been through personally (and it's starting to bleed into the professional side of my life) is catastrophic, and what most often I experience is another person's complete shock at the fact I'm even alive. They are often left with nothing to say because it's so shocking. I then wind up having to comfort/console them; which is weird, and leaves things between me and the other person in a weird place.

This has happened so often that it's created it's own sort of separate trauma, while also triggering being abandoned so much over the course of my childhood.

I suffer from c-ptsd, anxiety and depression due to long-term abuse (all forms) in my childhood. My dominant emotion growing up was fear, and I was isolated a lot in my childhood, and have felt so alone my whole life. I left home in my late teens and I have worked, functioned, and built an incredible career DESPITE what the odds say about people who grow up like I did. However, this has made me a workaholic, and has left nothing in my personal life; no friends, no relationships outside of professional ones, and I feel very alone, isolated, and struggle to not feel broken or damaged. I have had a few breakdowns in my life, been hospitalized twice, and am in crisis right now; hoping not to have another breakdown, and am looking for some understanding and better skills on how to reach out, hang on, and be helped by people who understand and not by those who don't and who wind up doing more damage.

I feel like giving up, but I have signed up here in an effort and hope that maybe I can find some peace and understanding within these pages to help me feel not so alone and isolated.
 
I'm new to this and so a little scared and also unsure of how to connect to people online - I don't/haven't done this sort of thing.

You sound like me when i first came here. For me, learning how to connect online (which is paramount jumping board for then connecting with people in person) came with time.

what most often I experience is another person's complete shock at the fact I'm even alive. They are often left with nothing to say because it's so shocking. I then wind up having to comfort/console them; which is weird, and leaves things between me and the other person in a weird place.

Yep, i get that too. Pretty much anyone ive been completely open with, which isnt many given its so unbelieveable, that most dont believe me, end up being super triggered about their own past, if they have one but those that dont seemed triggered as well (i think its too much and though they offered to listen, they didnt expect that) then i end up being there for them instead.

I feel like giving up, but I have signed up here in an effort and hope that maybe I can find some peace and understanding within these pages to help me feel not so alone and isolated.

You are so not alone in any of this.

Personally i gave up trying to find someone that can relate to my exact trauma and starting to piece it out and learned that a ton can relate to certian pieces and that has helped me.

Also, what was crutial for me, is this site doesnt have trigger warnings nor is there a "too much" area or a "cant say certian words or phrases" so telling my past in its entire full-ness (though there are still a few holes but not many) was just so crutial. I had to get it out, get it "out there" in all of its "horrible-ness" if you will. And out of me, to make steps foward. Not saying you do, just saying i had to.

Either way, i relate to what you've said here fully and you will find so many that "get it" here.

Oh, i almost forgot to say welcome to the forum! :hug:
 
Personally i gave up trying to find someone that can relate to my exact trauma and starting to piece it out and learned that a ton can relate to certian pieces and that has helped me.

Thank you so much for replying and also posting the above statement. That makes a lot of sense, of relating on a piece-by-piece basis, because so much of anyone's journey is unique and not like another's. I will think through how I can do this more successfully because it is something I haven't actively thought of before, but seems worth an effort to relate this way instead, to those who haven't been through as much trauma. Seems like this could be an avenue to bring more peace and comfort into my life.

Thank you.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum! :)

I can't help but wonder if you're over sharing with people? I mean if it's to the point where you have to comfort them, I think perhaps you've said too much, too soon, or too much all at once.

Or maybe you share too much as a way of conquering your trauma? You say too much but hope they'll stay-----to prove that you can bare your soul and not be abandoned because you're finally worthy of love.

Do you expect people to understand what you need without explicitly (and I do mean spelling it out letter by letter) telling them what you need? Nobody will ever know what you need, not even if they have PTSD themselves and the same kind of trauma. It's very important to verbalize what we need in the moment, when we need it-----otherwise we will never get our needs met.

:hug:
 
Hi and welcome to the forum! :)

I can't help but wonder if you're over sharing with people? I me...

The people I do wind up sharing with are usually in my life for years (2-3) before I begin to share. Most often I just blandly say 'I left home when I was a late teenager and I've been on my own ever since' if a person in my life before I really know them probes or asks too much. This makes me question my judgement on who I do allow in my life, because the timeframe in which I share, to me, means that I trust you on some level and think you are truly a 'friend' or 'boyfriend', whatever it may be. And that's been rough because I now also question my own judgement along with being abandoned. My therapist told me 'people have a need not to see nor hear' these types of traumas. And through my experiences, through watching and seeing and also experiencing how people react, I actually believe this, a lot.

I am working on verbalizing my needs better, the first step has been to know what it is I need. Most recently, I've had two people I have known for a long time (over 2 years) and who have known that I have PTSD, but not known the particulars, respond that they will be there for me, and then when they have learned certain particulars (flooding emotions that lead to suicidal ideations, etc), have abandoned me in spectacular ways. In one example, I asked for someone to come over and watch a movie and have pizza with me, to aid me though this rough patch, and she said ok, no problem, she wanted to help, she'd be here. I never heard from her and she spectacularly has now vanished from my life. Seems like the person she's known and the problems I described were so disparate SHE doesn't know how to deal, but that left me very vulnerable and triggered and flooded.

I do hope people will stay. Of course. And to bare my soul and have someone respect, and stay and work through it with me, of course I want that. Just hasn't been something I've experienced.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply and questions.
 
Thank you.

You are very welcome!

For me, even with the indivudal traumas, my trauma was specifcally being raised in a religous cult and though there were a few cult survivors here, most couldnt relate to that but if i broke it down to say, the sexual parts, or say the physical parts, then i get a lot that can relate to that, and can advise about just that part, or just that issue with just that part etc.

Yes, i need to heal from the whole but even therapy is easier pieced out like that and taking on one piece at a time, one thought at a time, its easier to learn then to take one step at a time and not getting way ahead of myself.

For people in real life, i started to do the same. That way, i can stop at a piece if they are beginning to become overwhelmed and end up consoling them. And if pieced out correctly, im asking for support in the area and the piece(s) where i need the most support.

Make sense?
 
I have learned that some people just don't want to hear it all, no matter how much they say they can handle it. I've learned to give the basic logistics to people that haven't been in my life long term. (long term for me is years and years, not just a few)
The one's that have been around for (say) 10+ years, those are the one's I know are my true friends, the one's I can rely on to hear the nitty gritty and truly support me. Sadly, that is the way of life when "making friends".
There just isn't a proper enough understanding in the world about mental health, stigma regarding it, and until people can collectively start to get a better understanding, it just doesn't seem worth fully divulging. (in my experiences)
Thank you for sharing your story here, I know it must have been hard to do, and I understand what you are going through is very hard as well, but you are doing great by reaching out.
*gentle hugs if you accept*
 
Even though I would like to have that one person who understands and 'gets me' that is not realistic and there is some grief there over that, but that is mine to process through.

Oh i know the feeling and for a while, that was my goal, but i soon realized that it wasnt realistic and my therapist knows all and understands and that became enough.

I have run across a few on here that can fully relate and that has helped. But i wasnt fully honest with myself when i said "i want just one that fully understands and 'gets it' and eventually learned it was more "i wish most understood". You know?

But that was me and what i learned i was actually searching for. Know i understand and "get it"! :hug:
 
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