Platitudes: Which Ones Make You Scream?

[goingonhope]

"Look on the bright side." :confused:
"It's not so bad."
"I had the same thing it was not that bad." :roflmao:
"Just trust in God it will get better:
"You'll be fine."
"You're so young; You have your whole life ahead of you in which to live." :O_o::confused::alien:
"At least you're not my age, what with my brochitis and all; It affects me." :laugh::(:poop:
"If I felt like that I'd kill myself." :unsure:

These don't make me scream, but I'm sure I've heard them all before.

 

[LaurenRose]

Platitude: a flat, dull, or trite remark, especially one uttered as if it were fresh or profound. Synonyms: cliché, truism

Even thought they can all have positive truth, when uttered without empathy they are damaging for me.

 

[LaurenRose]

"Such as is life" When someone says this to me I receive it as saying that the event or my emotions/struggle has no importance at all and that I shouldn't have feelings about it. Goes against all my education about PTSD.
The troubles I have had is that I didn't feel the feelings when I should have and man am I having feelings now. It implies to me that I need to "lay down" and just take it. This one makes me scream and makes me want to smack the deliverer .. well that's a bit harsh. No, it makes me want to smack the platitude itself - hard, with a big hammer.

 

[Lionheart]

"Take it like a man" ....that one really get me po'd.:mad: The implication being that if I were more of a man, I wouldn't have a problem with PTSD. I also hate it when people begin a sentence with, "What you need to do is______________" Whatever happened to making a suggestion as opposed to telling someone what to do? O.k., I am through ranting now.:p

 

[traumablackout]

I can't stand when people tell me "If you would just be more positive things would be better." -.- you're freakin kidding me right?

Honestly, I don't mind a good amount of cliches/platitudes/phrases, because if someone is taking the time to actually listen to what I'm saying I feel like they have already done more than enough for me. I have to constantly remind myself that other people have not been through what I have been through, and they will never have a clue as to what I'm going through. The reason some people resort to cliches, etc., is because they simply don't know what else to say. Some of the things PTSD survivors have been through are just too horrific for normal people to comprehend, so if they make a sincere attempt to comfort me I will most definitely accept that.

 

[traumablackout]

Oops there was a server error, looks like I made multiple posts by mistake. Is there a way to delete them by chance?

 

[amethist]

Sorted traumablackout. :tup:

 

[KP the nut]

'Have a cup of tea' OMG the British answer to everything.

 

[ms spock]

"One day you will see things differently."

And they were wrong. I don't see the abuse any differently from 15 to 41.

 

[anni]

" You're not wierd, you're just eccentric." Is that one or just something I hear an awful lot?

 

[Kintsugi]

I don't know if this counts as a "platitude," but this is the worst for me and instantly catapults me into rage.

"What is wrong with you?"

 

[LaurenRose]

"It's not rocket science" Part of the challenge I have is finding ways to explain the seriousness of PTSD to those who have no capacity to understand. I have to continually remind myself that when people tell me this when I express confusion or hurt that it is in ignorance that they say this platitude. I want to scream and say "sometimes it IS rocket science and I am in kindergarten" because my emotional "brain" just can't figure out what is going on and even if I know, it gets all confused and bewildered and terrified as it can't remember what to do about it.

 

[Mercy]

Just don't think about it. .......Huh, how do you do that exactly?

What's Wrong With You? from my young 20 something daughter.

It's in the past, forget about it. ...Oh, really.