Ptsd Awareness Month

[Upside Down Eagle]

So I just discovered that June is PTSD Awareness month. There is also an awareness day, namely the 27th this month. I want to use this month and day to spread as much awareness as is in my power.

Obviously you guys already are aware. And it can be tough, or painful to talk about PTSD in real life as well as on social media. So I do not expect everyone with PTSD to talk about it or spread the word.

However I found some helpful stuff for anyone who'd like to tell others, or share on social media, under the banner of PTSD Awareness month. This animated clip is short, to the point and fun to watch. I posted it on Facebook with the following message:

"June is PTSD Awareness Month. Not just reserved for veterans, this very stubborn disease can actually occur with any survivor of life threatening experiences.

Funny thing about "life threatening experiences", is that people often don't suspect it could happen to them or the people they love -at any given moment. Bummer, right?

Chances are you know more than one person with this affliction. And yet, PTSD isn't a very discussed disease. Because of this, it can be hard for sufferers to reach out and be understood.

This clip keeps it short and yet gets the point. Watch it, share it, let's spread some awareness!"

Here you can find some banners: http://www.ptsd.va.gov/about/ptsd-awareness/promo_materials_awareness.asp

Hoping you all are making lots of progress and keep fighting, my respect and thoughts are with all of you this month!

 

[J_trustno1]

Cool, I love your profile cat.

 

[silkleaves]

I saw that it is PTSD awareness month, and have thought about posting something up on my FB in support, but considering it has been almost a month now since I've posted anything on there, and that so few people know about my PTSD (well...2 out of the over 200 people on my fb) I'm afraid that if I were to post anything about it, my phone would blow up from people asking me inappropriate / uncomfortable questions.

So I am silently supporting here. Though I have to say, I have checked out my fb here and there, and it is kind of sad to me how during any other "awareness months" my feed is blown up by people in support, but so far for this, nothing. And more likely than not, will remain nothing. Yeah, last thing I need to do is quasi-announce on there that I have a mental illness. The brown stuff will hit the fan. Not out of concern, but out of...I knew something was off about you. Is this why you keep disappearing? Are you okay..are you seeing a therapist? If you plan to harm yourself call me first!

And what makes me so annoyed just thinking about it, is that whenever anyone has a problem they will want to talk to me about it, but if I hint at wanting to talk about something that is bothering me, suddenly something has come up and they have to go, or they don't respond, or they will reply back as soon as blah blah blah... So I just keep my stuff to myself.

I think I went on a rant...I'm sorry. I'm going through some other thoughts and stuff that's upsetting me right now.

 

[Upside Down Eagle]

Hey Silkleaves, yeah, I get where you're coming from I think. I didn't post anything about PTSD on social media for a long, long time either. And when I do, I do not mention that I have it -I simply tell them there needs to be more awareness. And then obviously I do get questioned about it but I'm now at a moment in my life where I'm somewhat in control again, and I don't mind telling them the story.

I can see how it can be a pain though, all the questions. That's why I mentioned I don't think sharing is mandatory :-) As long as you have some people to support you, you really don't have to tell the entire world. But you are right about people never sharing anything about PTSD, it is also given almost no importance on the media as far as I know. That's why I want to tell them about it.

Cool, I love your profile cat.

Thanks, I like it too. It's my new idol -I need to learn how to become Zen and laid back like it ;)

 

[J_trustno1]

@Radise : I love cats and can't control my love for them. I always wanted a cat as a pet so will be able to get one as soon as I get a job so I can afford it :)

 

[Britt.f7]

I have RAINN(Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network) on my face book feed. It announced that it was PTSD month. Just now, it also has some links, regarding PTSD. I didn't have to do it. No one has ever asked about RAINN being on my feed.

 

[Upside Down Eagle]

Yeah nobody asks about the PTSD thing on my feed either :P Some of my friends already know and they don't enquire. Some of my friends don't know and they don't react to it, so I don't really think it has a big outreach. My blog probably does more to reach people, although limited too...

@J_trustno1 I hope you can afford that cat soon :-) They are freaking awesome.