Society's View Of Ptsd

[souljah]

If u fought a brave fight in combat and were injured and scared people usually can comprehend and cognise that. It's the scarless wounds that are harder for people to understand.

I've fought (and still fighting) a very hard battle with some of the most extreme wounds mentally and physically and I feel proud and unashamed and good enough finally. I would like people to understand and some will,most won't. I think it's more important you understand and accept yourself.

Give yourself some credit for all you have lived through.It's tough trying to explain such a complex issue if u feel comfortable and trust someone and want to then do knowing that you still maybe judged and labelled. People have a tendancy to label, judge and box just about anyone on anything , they will do just the same with ptsd if not worse. That is their ignorance, it our job in life to transend boxes and labels and find our persona truth and liberation and set ourselves free.

 

[Lionheart]

....people have a tendancy to label, judge and box just about anyone on anything , they will do just the same with ptsd if not worse. That is their ignorance, it our job in life to transend boxes and labels and find our persona truth and
liberation and set ourselves free.

Well said Souljah :)

 

[Sammy]

LH - in my experience, telling people I have PTSD from early abuse/neglect makes them very uncomfortable. They just don't really want to have to face the fact it happens and it has lifelong effects. I don't share details with 99.99% of the people I talk to about it. They don't need to know details. Shoot, I don't want to talk about them! But I do want them to understand that there are times I just can't do those things that seem so easy and normal for them. I wish I could but I can't.

 

[Sammy]

I think the comment that it takes having a mental illness to understand it is true to some degree. But I believe that depression, anxiety, feelings of worthlessness; and yes, even suicidal ideation are not uncommon experiences for most people. I find that when I am explaining PTSD, I can take some of those examples, find common ground, and explain that it is the degree and length that is different.

I really like how you explain it!! I totally agree and had not thought of this. This will be really helpful for me in the future!! :)

 

[Tinyflame]

I have to take it back, in retrospect I would not tell anyone. Just as per myself. One less source out there of potentially being ridiculed or demeaned in the future (or present) publically or privately, stigma, and continued misunderstanding.

 

[Springer80]

Here's something interesting to throw into the mix....Look up an artist called Kim Noble (n.b. some of her work shows colourful childlike depictions of potentially triggering stuff). She was interviewed on Oprah and some of her work has been bought by the Saatchi Collection. Via art therapy her alters started painting, some want to have exhibitions some don't etc etc. I met her in London at the first conference held by the Clinic for Dissociative Studies. Amazing. I'm not sure I can fathom how she copes with the public and manages to keep control of her internal system but I admire her greatly.

 

[Tinyflame]

Yes, I don't mean to discourage anyone, people should go by what they (personally) feel is best, suits their personality, is in line with their experiences, etc. I mean, for example, Deb started this thread, and said she feels ashamed. I don't think she should- knowing Deb. Yet I feel the same as she does, as regards myself.

I think people change perceptions or biases or prejudices through experiences that counter (do not reinforce) the prejudices or stereotypes, working or living side by side with someone. But unfortunately, not much prejudice is reduced solely by words or information or knowledge.

 

[souljah]

Well said Souljah :)

Thanks Lionheart x

 

[ClairBear226]

That is my experience with telling someone about PTSD. Basically, it ends up in lengthy explanations with a lost look on the other persons face. Now if I tell them I'm a veteran, suddenly their curiosity peaks into the old adage most veterans are used to, ranging between "have you killed someone" to "where have you been and did you kill someone."

I've been examining this subject lately. I'm very reluctant to talk about having PTSD. I think a large part of it, though, is because of why I have it. Mine is from sexual assault. As if the stigma of PTSD alone weren't enough, the stigma of sexual assault is a double whammy. No one asks a rape victim where they were, or what the event entailed. At most, you would get "Oh." Followed by silence. No one talks about how childhood sexual abuse affects you now. The general assumption is that you should just be over it by now.

There is stigma in the medical community as well. You would think that with medical knowledge that more doctors, nurses and aids would be more understanding.

I am an RN. My specialty is not psych, but I've found that even in the psych community, there is very little understanding of PTSD. I also know that medical people that require medical treatment are always always talked about amongst their piers. There have been times where I might have benefitted from medication, or medical assistance. But knowing the lack of education about it, and the chatter that will ensue amongst people I need to deal with professionally, I don't risk it.

people should know they can't learn about people with PTSD from TV, but it still affects their perception.

Yup. To say that you have PTSD to an "outsider" is to be lumped in with every stupid negative dramatization of the disorder. I don't want to be associated with that crap.

And last, but not least, I grew up in a household where the "appearance" of normal was very important, not the normalcy itself. Maybe that's more ingrained in me than I'd like to admit.

 

[popeye]

Well I try to be as open with people as I can about my disorder. I have though noticed a bunch of people take a step away from me when I say I have PTSD. It's because the media has shown what people with PTSD are capable of and how far away from reality we can get if we don't get the help we need.

For an example, I went to a different job after my trauma. I told the boss about my issue because I knew that sometimes it would affect my ability to work. One day while I was working the lights went out during a thunderstorm. I literally ended up under my work bench screaming "we are all going to die" at the top of my lungs during a flashback. When I "came back" from my flashback I could hear the other people I work with whispering things to each other like "This guy is crazy" or "I don't want to work next to this guy anymore" or my personal favorite "One of these days he's going to kill all of us". I later found out my boss explained my disorder to them the day I started work and they all had an idea in their head of what someone with PTSD really is. None of which was right.

Eventually I went to school after losing that job. One of my English assignments was to write an informative speech. I chose to write about PTSD because of my experiences at my old job. I wrote the speech explaining that basically we are normal people that just experienced things that most people wouldn't have lived through. And the fact that those events changed us in a way that we cannot control. By the end of my speech I had plenty of people asking me questions about what happened to me and how they should react if I had a panic attack during class or a flashback. But I also saw in some of the faces in the class just plain old fear to even be around me. I even lost a good friend when I admitted it to the class because he was afraid to be around me.

Not long after that class I had a terrible panic attack in my autos class and I saw the looks on peoples faces. Out of embarrassment I never returned to school.

 

[ClairBear226]

or my personal favorite "One of these days he's going to kill all of us"

What's really crazy is, most of the people I know with PTSD actually withdraw in some manner during a flashback. Okay, I'll grant you, it might look frightening and odd, but what, exactly, about a guy being scared under a bench screams mass murderer? In my case, I zone out. I stare off into space, and don't hear or react to someone trying to talk to me or get my attention. BIG threat, ey? Yet, that seems to be the perception that sticks with the gerneral public. That we're all crazies on the attack. Education amongst the general public is probably going to get somewhat better, with all the servicepeople returning from the war with PTSD. But as long as the dopes writing Hollywood scripts for TV insist on perpetuating a misinformed stereotype, it's an uphill battle to have any kind of educated understanding out there. The perception should be, "Oh, he's got PTSD. He's survived some really awful stuff, and lived to tell about it.", not, "Holy crap, we're all gonna die."

 

[intothelight]

Yes, I can relate to everything being said. The biggest threat we are is to ourselves, just look at the suicide statistics. That is the real threat, that this disorder on a percentage basis is as fatal or more fatal than many other diseases.