Should I Be Annoyed?

[Deleted member 47600]

I really need to start trying to help other people on this forum rather than just coming to ya'll when I need advice bc it should work both ways. I'm sorry :( I get restricted phone access rn as I'm on a psych ward and yeah I hate to blame my shitty humanness on my head being a mess ahhh but yeah my point is I'm sorry
ANYWAY. So as I've just said I'm on a psych ward and just for background at the placement I'm living at they don't check on you at night so when I have flashbacks etc they very rarely see them but here you get checked on ever 15 minutes so they come in when I'm in one but i obviously dont reply (bc i dont know theyre there etc) and then when I come out of it they come to check in me and they always say something like "oh so you've stopped ignoring us now" or "Does sitting in a ball help?" And I honestly can't be bothered to sit and explain the situation to them but like....? Does it not click that I'm diagnosed with PTSD and it might be a flashback and maybe ask me afterwards if there's anything they can do instead of assuming I'm sitting in a ball and ignoring them? Why would I do that anyway? I'm just... idk they're supposed to be mh professionals but can't pick up on that or even ask? Do they expect people to be a hysterical mess for it to click that they might be having a flashback instead of more of a dissociative state? DO THEY NOT EVEN WANNA ASK? sorry if this sounds silly but like... Idk

 

[Kubash16]

1. No worries about not responding to people. You’re here for you, not us. ?

2. I’m so flipping jealous you have access to your phone at all.

3. How do you respond when they make comments like that? Have you explained what’s happening? Honestly, with how varied people react to different things it’s safe to assume they are human and don’t know you well enough yet.

4. Their sarcastic comments would bug the hell out of me and keeping my mouth shut might actually kill me.

 

[Friday]

It’s not silly at all... but no. There is no way for them to know why you aren’t responding, unless you tell them.

If youre in a specialized trauma unit solely for PTSD & trauma related disorders it’s more likely they’ll pick up on 1 of hundreds of possible expressions of a symptom... even then, though, it’s flip a coin if they get it right... but if you’re in any kind of general ward? It’s extremely unlikely. Especially as remaining silent / ignoring people / refusing to cooperate (passive dissent) is the weapon of choice for pissed off people who don’t want to get in trouble, a common side effect of a lot of medications, as well as a symptom of about 1,000 things. So they may guess, or silent people may just be so normal in their experience they don’t even think twice about why anyone is silent, as long as they’re not in medical distress (ie, you’re still breathing, aren’t bleeding, not actively dying) and leave psych symptoms for the doctors to deal with in the morning.

My suggestion would be to talk to your care team in the morning, and ask them to ask the night staff to stop making fun of you for having flashbacks, or to at least alert them you are having flashbacks instead of attempting to annoy them... or however they’re taking your not being aware they’re there... because it’s hard enough to deal with this, without people mocking you and being sarcastic and offended on top of it all.

Annoyed? Personally, I’d be pissed off. Even knowing they couldn’t know why I’m behaving as I am until they’re told (by me, or by other staff). But I always get pissed off when someone reads me wrong (idiot, don’t attempt to read people, if you suck at it.) ...or deeply, deeply amused. Both have their upsides and downsides, but pissed off usually means I’m more likely to action it / solve the problem.