Hi all,
my name is Lauren and I am brand-new to this forum. Just this weekend I kind of had one of those lightbulb moments where I realized that what I've been struggling with for the past 15 years (more than 1/2 my life) is PTSD. I was actually reviewing a book for soldiers coming back from Iraq, and it dealt a lot with PTSD; how to recognize it, etc. As I read it, I couldn't believe it; I was saying "this is me, this is me!" So anyway, Monday morning I am going to try to get a referral to therapy, and try it again. In the past, they have focused on my relationship with my parents, etc, when I think the issue that needs to be dealt with is my ongoing fears and anxiety from an incident that happened when I was 13. I was home in the evening with my mother (it was just us living together then) and I heard a noise outside; the rocks scraping. Iwas sure it was just a neighbor cat, so I pulled open the blinds and looked straight into the face of a man who had crawled under our porch and was doing something to the window. The police came, they didn't catch him, and nothing much came of that. Nothing happened to me, but in my mind I had been raped, tortured, murdered. That moment changed my life completely, and I've been scared all the time since. I felt safer walking down the street than ever being in a house alone. I've gotten better, because I've dealt the last few years with a husband being gone on 2 deployments, but there are situations that come up where I realize that I am NOT okay.
Anyway, that's me. I'm glad this group is out here, looking forward to reading what all the rest of you have to say.
:smile: Lauren
my name is Lauren and I am brand-new to this forum. Just this weekend I kind of had one of those lightbulb moments where I realized that what I've been struggling with for the past 15 years (more than 1/2 my life) is PTSD. I was actually reviewing a book for soldiers coming back from Iraq, and it dealt a lot with PTSD; how to recognize it, etc. As I read it, I couldn't believe it; I was saying "this is me, this is me!" So anyway, Monday morning I am going to try to get a referral to therapy, and try it again. In the past, they have focused on my relationship with my parents, etc, when I think the issue that needs to be dealt with is my ongoing fears and anxiety from an incident that happened when I was 13. I was home in the evening with my mother (it was just us living together then) and I heard a noise outside; the rocks scraping. Iwas sure it was just a neighbor cat, so I pulled open the blinds and looked straight into the face of a man who had crawled under our porch and was doing something to the window. The police came, they didn't catch him, and nothing much came of that. Nothing happened to me, but in my mind I had been raped, tortured, murdered. That moment changed my life completely, and I've been scared all the time since. I felt safer walking down the street than ever being in a house alone. I've gotten better, because I've dealt the last few years with a husband being gone on 2 deployments, but there are situations that come up where I realize that I am NOT okay.
Anyway, that's me. I'm glad this group is out here, looking forward to reading what all the rest of you have to say.
:smile: Lauren