Thinking About A Ptsd Tattoo

[sonicwhite]

I'm thinking since i have never had a tattoo that I should get one like this. In big bold filled in letter PTSD on my for arm. Just to show people I am the same as you. That I suffer from something on the inside and I show it on the outside by that........It has interested me. Only thing is i don't like pain......And than i think I will get a Nautical star on my leg near the cafe but on the side....

This may need to be moved tho if it's not in the right place. Sorry about that.

 

[GWhizz]

Wow that's brave. I wouldn't be able to handle the questions it would bring up. Sounds like you're at a good point if you're ready for that.

 

[digger]

Interesting. I'm not really understanding your reasoning behind it or what you are hoping it will say to people? It would be a conversation starter I guess, but I think I'd rather people get to know me before a label.

Diagnosed Drug Induced Psychosis...ADHD.....OCD.....Cannibas Psychotic Disorder..GAD.....Major Depression disorder-recurrent...Severe, Bipolar I....Migraines, Cluster headaches....

Are you planning to get the rest of your diagnoses as tattoos too? Or is just PTSD that you feel says something? Can I ask what it is about PTSD that you feel shows people that you are the same as them?

My PTSD disorder is in the process of being reviewed by my doc but no doubt I have it.

Are you thinking to wait till you have the disorder confirmed?

Personally I think you might be better just getting a t-shirt or a badge for now...

 

[sonicwhite]

LOL, I do agree I have it, it ain't in the works yet but I have never been scared to tell people what I go thru.....I guess many would think I'm a Veteran of war or something......No it represents the pain I endure everyday....If it strikes a cord with someone well that's their problem I just like the idea of it. No i would put any other diagnoses on me just that one.

 

[Friday]

I wouldn't. I'm ADHD-c. 10 years ago? It would have been ADD/ADHD. Before that it was called a form of brain damage. Before that? High Spirits.

Names in the DSM are subject to change.

Right now it's PTSD. In 25 years?

We've already has SoldiersHeart, Shell Shock, Combat Fatigue, & PTSD (for my form of trauma... Other forms of trauma have had different names: Brutalized, Badly Used, Hysterical for CSA survivors, for example). Gawd alone knows what's next.

<chuckling> I may well have HighSpirits & SoldiersHeart tattooed on me, though ;). They had a way with words, back when.

 

[sonicwhite]

fireside budi :)

 

[Bees Are Awesome]

Perhaps instead of using the actual words/letters from your diagnoses you could get a tattoo of something symbolic of them instead. Not knowing you I have no idea what you would choose. An example might be a lion tattoo symbolizing bravery and courage in your recovery. Something meaningful to you. Then if someone asks about your tattoo you could tell them as much or as little as you like. Just a thought. I have three tattoos and two of them have deeper meaning for me.

Any way you decide to tattoo yourself, remember that they are addictive and you can't have just one! :D

 

[Ronin]

I'm very much of the mindset 'your body, your rules, your reasons & they're never owed', though I'd suggest something that can change with you and still be relevant. Though that said... meanings change, even meanings attached to a memory, so a shifting diagnosis may still mean a lot to you in retrospect.

 

[sonicwhite]

Yes, I just don't care what stigma there is. I am just like everyone else.......Just I fight a battle that is unseen. I think ppl will respond in a positive way....If I get cut than well that's another stripe I wear for my Glory days......

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I say get a symbol of recovery instead. It will have a more personal meaning to you.

 

[moonbeam]

Oh this is a difficult one. As someone who has a tattoo and is getting another one (you can't get just one), I firmly believe in the your body your rules. Though my first tattoo is a symbolic reminder of a friend who committed suicide. The second will be a symbolic tattoo about my struggles/recovery.

As a PTSD sufferer I find the concept of putting the letters PTSD on your arm baffling and kind of irritating. I and others fight hard to be considered more than a diagnosis and to just permanently slap it onto your body just feels like a step in the wrong direction. And why is PTSD the one fight that gets a mark and none of the others? Couldn't you make something more symbolic to all of your struggles? Something more personal that letters to a diagnosis.

And as Friday Jones said it could change. Wasn't it PTSS for a while, I have vague memories of the psych community arguing if it was a disorder or a syndrome? At the time I was undiagnosed so didn't pay that much attention but I remember hearing about this.

 

[edgarbedger]

I can relate, I kinda wan't a tattoo too but I wanted to get something more ambiguous like "one time for your mind" or something like that. I feel like people will prejudge me and limit myself from building new relationships and living a "normal life" but maybe I care too much.