PTSD Super Powers - Reading People & Assessing Risk

[sticks-and-stones]

Hi again everyone,

Hmmm the intuition vs paranoia debate.

IMO it's a very fuzzy grey line... according to the dictionary, I'm sure paranoia would be taking rational intuition into the realms of 'not possible'. However where that boundary of 'not possible' is, is down to the individual. I'd never even have imagined some of the horrific things that have happened to people on here so what might have seemed to me 'not possible' and seemingly paranoid for thinking about, actually isn't so far removed from reality after all.

I don't know really... it's just my opinion!

S&S

 

[kers]

I deal with my hypervigilance by calling it my "spidey-sense," lol.

 

[onebravegirl]

There is a GREAT difference between Instinct and paranoia.
Paranoia isn't based on complete fact. Emotion and delusional thought clouds a persons ability to reason. Instinct is based on fact. The book I mentioned does a great job of explaining it better than I can in a few short lines But I'll see how I can do here...
First off, In NO WAY was the book saying that this poor woman deserved what happened too her. One illustration I can think off from the book went something like this. An animal will never get into a steel sound proof cage with another animal if it doesn't feel safe. Humans get into elevators everyday with people they do not feel safe with. Why? Because as we age we fill our minds with so many rationalizations that we ignore our natural instincts of survival. We say "Oh, I am being silly" "I do not want to look paranoid or like a bitch for not being polite" etc.
The woman mentioned in the beginning of the book had walked up to her building alone with her arms full of bags of groceries. When she came to the front door of the building, it was unlocked. Unusual she admitted to herself but she walked in and up the stairs. One of her bags of groceries ripped open and her cans of cat food tumbled down the stairs. She heard a voice say "I got It!" from the bottom of the stairs. Funny, she thought, no one was there a second ago. A smiling young man comes up the stairs with her cat food...You get the picture. The author of the book helps her see that A predator does an Interview, to get a feel if a person will be easy to control and victimize. Classic Predictable human behavior manipulative procedure you could say. By reading her story it helps to see this pattern and recognize based on that predictability, whether a person whats to be helpful or hurtful. A paper back copy cost about $8. It is well worth the read.
By the way...
For all you superheroes out there, you may be pleasantly surprised if you take an EQ test. Trauma survivors usually do very well on Emotional IQ tests. You may be shocked at how "MIGHTY" you Are!!!
O

 

[sticks-and-stones]

Hi OBG,

Thanks for explaining the book a little more - I'll keep an eye out for that.

About intuition vs paranoia however, I slightly disagree with you.
Intuition IMO is not based on fact or reason. It is a feeling, a gut instinct and not something we can reasonably explain. I think that's why people here when they say to their partners "I don't like that person - they're not trustworthy" often we can't put our finger on exactly why that is (or our partner would accept it more readily) but it's just something we feel rather than know.

Still all that is just my opinion and I think it's a very interesting discussion.

 

[onebravegirl]

Hi OBG,

Thanks for explaining the book a little more - I'll keep an eye out for that.

About intuition vs paranoia however, I slightly disagree with you.
Intuition IMO is not based on fact or reason. It is a feeling, a gut instinct and not something we can reasonably explain. I think that's why people here when they say to their partners "I don't like that person - they're not trustworthy" often we can't put our finger on exactly why that is (or our partner would accept it more readily) but it's just something we feel rather than know.

Still all that is just my opinion and I think it's a very interesting discussion.

See! It is like I said, the book does a way better job of explaining what instinct is. Instinct is faster than thought and often picks up of things before we have a chance to rationalize them away. It takes in body language, voice ton, eye direction etc. It is a more fine tuned awareness than the conscious mind. The more we understand how our instinct works, it gets sharper and more accurate. Personally I find it exciting and fascinating. I hope you get a chance to read the book!
O

 

[way_back_when]

I would like to believe I have good intuition. Often I'm accused of overreacting about certain people. For example, I told a friend how much this one man 'freaked me out'. It wasn't too difficult really... the man behaved a lot like my ex who is an abusive, pathological narcissist. So, even if I was incorrect, I feel very justified, even if I seem paranoid to others.
On the other hand, even though my good intuition has existed for a long time, I have ignored it out of desperation for what I considered 'love' in the past. And that is very dangerous.

 

[Philippa]

I've had times when I knew what a guy wanted even before he'd approached me. He was about 20 metres away and I just knew he was going to come and ask me where I got my sushi from, because I knew he loved sushi too?? He walked past me, and then stopped and came back to ask me where I got it from.

Other times I haven't trusted my judgement enough, or gotten suss over people who were actually not out to harm me, and trusted people who were...so, sometimes I trust, and other times I am too wounded to.

They do say that trauma can trigger strong psychic ability in people. It makes sense since we need it a lot more because we are wounded. Our instincts are hyper -vigilant and set to survive.

 

[Abrasky]

I have superpowers too. I have a built in creep o metre too. I once got on a bus, the nearest seat was behind a bloke I'd never seen in my life, but I got this wierd feeling and steered cleared and sat at the back. When I got off the bus, my mil told me he had been convicted of rape.