No, but speaking from homelessness myself, you don't need to explain it. All of my adult life I have paid my taxes and dues and these literal strangers to our country are getting money hand over fist while I can't afford housing or food. It disgusts me.
-
We are a multilingual website again. Read the notice about this.
-
Understand AI use at MyPTSD: all AI use is explained in our AI help page. AI use is by choice here. It exists if you want it, but does nothing unless you choose to use it.
Near meltdowns, can't focus enough for course, + is homelessness ptsd a thing?
- Post starter LanaD
- Start date
- Status
lady truck driver
New Here
Sorry to hear you have to go through this. I can totally relate. I work very hard but seem to end up going from one big truck to another. It is just part of the industry. I have family but they are never there for me. In fact they blame me for my situation and never call me.Your thread hits home.
- Post starter
- #15
Seems that "working hard" goes hand in hand with being in difficult situations. Where I live the lazy have nothing to worry about as the state (read: taxes paid by hard workers) supports them.
Friday
Sponsor
Homelessness in and of itself? No. Although things that may happen while homeless can be. What it definitely is, though, is a huge stressor. So it makes total sense that even thinking of it is filling your stress cup near capacity, symptoms are ramping up, and you're melting down in response to increased stress & increased symptoms.
The PTSD Cup Explanation
Which is a hugely beneficial thing to know... As it gives you tools & options to be able to deal more effectively with what's going on. Namely? Venting stress. As well as handling things in small pieces to be careful not to overload your system. It's a difficult balance to walk. But a hugely helpful one, in my experience.
- Post starter
- #17
Thank you for your answer. I'll check that link out asap.
- Post starter
- #18
UPDATE:
So yes, there is such a thing as homeless PTSD. The way I'm tackling my situation is by asking friends for help and thinking about one thing at a time - seriously, there's a list but I do not look at any items other than the one(s) I can handle on a particular day.
I've also decided to leave my city. It pains my heart but after hearing more news about more migrants being given more free homes paid for with my tax money (while at the same time harassing me constantly), I just can't see the point of staying here anymore - not to mention that a stream of migrants are being brought into my city regularly.
Staying in my home city means accepting the things that most affect me negatively: homelessness and lack of safety (especially as a woman), not to mention the normalization of humiliating taxpaying citizens. At this point I need to watch out for myself because the system I pay (high) taxes into ain't going to do that ever, even if the reason I pay high taxes is for the system to help me when I'm in need! I am just so tired of being treated like a third class citizen, so I need to at least try to live somewhere where that's not the case.
So yes, there is such a thing as homeless PTSD. The way I'm tackling my situation is by asking friends for help and thinking about one thing at a time - seriously, there's a list but I do not look at any items other than the one(s) I can handle on a particular day.
I've also decided to leave my city. It pains my heart but after hearing more news about more migrants being given more free homes paid for with my tax money (while at the same time harassing me constantly), I just can't see the point of staying here anymore - not to mention that a stream of migrants are being brought into my city regularly.
Staying in my home city means accepting the things that most affect me negatively: homelessness and lack of safety (especially as a woman), not to mention the normalization of humiliating taxpaying citizens. At this point I need to watch out for myself because the system I pay (high) taxes into ain't going to do that ever, even if the reason I pay high taxes is for the system to help me when I'm in need! I am just so tired of being treated like a third class citizen, so I need to at least try to live somewhere where that's not the case.
I don't see why not. Have you read any of the work of Derrick Silove? He is a professor of psychiatry who takes a socio-environmental perspective. Has worked with many traumatised populations. He says that to recover from trauma, there need to be 5 pillars restored: safety/security, roles/identities, justice, existential meaning and something else I forget right now. Having no stable place is stay is clearly a lack of security.
- Post starter
- #20
Thank you for your comment! That explanation makes a lot of sense. It has been a long time since I enjoyed any significant levels of safety or security. Only in the last couple of months have I started feeling a bit safer - because I'm not in shitty Western Europe but in SE Asia! - and I do feel the difference.
I also felt that without pursuing justice I was not going to be able to ever heal and sure enough, pressing charges felt like the first steps on he long road to recovery.
Yes, it is a great model and really resonates with me. The other pillar that I temporarily forgot is bonds and networks, i.e. strong social relationships.
- Post starter
- #22
Do you feel you have all pillars in place? If not, how do you go about building them?
Well that is the big problem and just shows that PTSD is not an individual problem but a societal one. Structural change is needed (that's the kicker). I have a lot more security and stability than I had when I was younger (I moved 30 times or more in 20 years and had sooo many jobs) and that helps. I also figured out that it's OK to ask for help and not to try to shoulder everything all alone. The whole Western model of hyper-individualism has a lot to answer for and is damaging.
I think that having the awareness of these pillars has given me insight has helped me identify triggers and to know that when I get really anxious and upset it is not because I am crazy or weak or any of that.
I think (and a lot of the literature backs me up on this) that while it is important to take care of myself and seek help on an individual/medical basis so that I don't completely fall apart, it's also important to be aware of the big picture. What I mean is, there is a danger of PTSD and other kinds of mental/emotional distress being too medicalised and seen as individual pathology. But the environment can and does affect symptoms getting better and worse. I guess I'm saying that we have to be political (when we have the strength) and I mean that on a personal and larger level. Need to agitate for change (protecting the vulnerable) and also not put up with people bossing me around (not always possible, but sometimes it is).
If I am freaking out big time, it's usually because I'm feeling powerless and not listened to. There is a lot of stuff in the mental health literature about this. I read a couple of great books: Madness Made Me by Mary O'Hagan and On Our Own by Judi Chamberlin. Both were institutionalised but came out the other end. There is a lot of insightful stuff in those books about how certain treatment from those in authority can make people crazy, literally.
So a lot of PTSD and other forms of emotional distress are about power. Even if the cause was not from abuse of power, often the ongoing symptoms are.
I think that having the awareness of these pillars has given me insight has helped me identify triggers and to know that when I get really anxious and upset it is not because I am crazy or weak or any of that.
I think (and a lot of the literature backs me up on this) that while it is important to take care of myself and seek help on an individual/medical basis so that I don't completely fall apart, it's also important to be aware of the big picture. What I mean is, there is a danger of PTSD and other kinds of mental/emotional distress being too medicalised and seen as individual pathology. But the environment can and does affect symptoms getting better and worse. I guess I'm saying that we have to be political (when we have the strength) and I mean that on a personal and larger level. Need to agitate for change (protecting the vulnerable) and also not put up with people bossing me around (not always possible, but sometimes it is).
If I am freaking out big time, it's usually because I'm feeling powerless and not listened to. There is a lot of stuff in the mental health literature about this. I read a couple of great books: Madness Made Me by Mary O'Hagan and On Our Own by Judi Chamberlin. Both were institutionalised but came out the other end. There is a lot of insightful stuff in those books about how certain treatment from those in authority can make people crazy, literally.
So a lot of PTSD and other forms of emotional distress are about power. Even if the cause was not from abuse of power, often the ongoing symptoms are.
- Post starter
- #24
That all makes so much sense. I'm quite distressed at the moment because of how horrible my government back in Europe treats me, and this morning I woke up to yet another "bomb" in the form of an email: they want me to pay them MORE MONEY. I haven't had a home in forever, I haven't been able to work since the assault, and they want more money. I've been living off my savings and they tell me I'm not eligible for any benefits, and they denied the benefits for which I am eligible.
I don't know what to do anymore. The worst thing is that whenever they come up with some new random bill they simply take the money out of my account and tell me that if I don't agree I can dispute it. They have stolen THOUSANDS of euros from me that way. The bills don't make sense, they make mistakes AAAAALL the time and then I have to pay for it, literally. Meanwhile they put up thousands of migrants and give them homes. It's just so horrible.
- Status
Donation drives
Trending content
-
-
What Are You Feeling Today? Not Thinking, Rather Feeling! Can You Identify Yours?
- goingonhope
Comments: 34K -
-
-
-
Latest posts
-
had a dream i was cutting myself again and it felt good
- Latest: Seraphine fatal
-
-
-