- Thread starter
- #25
coxysmelons93
Not Active
^This stuff you need to work on yourself. Life/ptsd can get very painful but expecting an online community and particularly when you are completely new, to jump to attention and turn that thought process around, or be responsible for answering you more promptly than we did, is a step too far. Nobody here can take on that amount of responsibility but it'd be good if you did and getting some help would be a smart move.
I have already clarified this further up and apologised if I upset anyone.
I was responding to someone else's comment which was deleted, it had absolutely nothing to do with the response time- I had no expectations regarding this and obviously recognise the different time zones and what other users are obviously going through. In fact, I had not originally expected anyone to reply for the first day or two, if I am honest. I was pleasantly surprised and very grateful when I did receive the support I have received so far.
It is indeed very difficult to cope with, as I have no doubt your own PTSD is, but there is no need to verbally attack me (or anyone) for struggling with a face covering (or with any trigger) as the first (deleted) commenter did. Just as it is my responsibility to work on myself (which I have spent 7 years doing and have made a lot of progress until I encountered this trigger last week) it is also other people's responsibility to manage their own issues and not project them onto other people, telling them how they can and cannot feel, think or live their lives.
For clarity here is the 'help' I have already undertaken so far: Trauma-focused counselling, CBT, DBT, group therapy, EMDR (very effective for me personally), specialised counselling for victims of sexual violence on 2 occasions, mindfulness (which I did not personally benefit from- everyone is different), Hypnotherapy (also didn't benefit) and a list of medications so long I will not bore you with it. I really do not appreciate being told that I have not taken any responsibility to get help because I have and I kept trying until I found something that worked for me (EMDR, peer support (face to face in the past), Diazepam and helplines), which actually took 5 years of trial and error, so to speak.
It was extremely difficult for me to post this thread as these are experiences I have not shared with even many close friends or family and I was in a fragile state when I finally had the courage to post it, therefore I overreacted but please do not make assumptions about me based on a reply to comment that was deleted. Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes overreacts, especially when they have already been triggered and are feeling extremely low and I would never judge anyone else for doing the same. I have since tried to delete my comment (as without the original comment it was replying to it is no longer relevant in any way) but as I made this account on Saturday, I am still figuring out how to do these things.
I am not trying to be rude here and believe me the last thing I would ever wish to do is upset anybody. I hope my initial mistake of reacting to the deleted comment can be forgotten (just as I would do for anyone else) and we can all move on.
I find the visor OK and intend on using it. You are correct about the virus being transmittable through other orifices than the mouth, I have read about this too and agree it is a good idea. Unfortunately, I couldn't cope with scarves myself but I am glad it was helpful for you.
I had thought of Exposure Therapy (in fact I have had this in the past for my needle phobia and it was remarkably effective) but, understandably due to current events, the waiting lists for any kind of support are lengthy. I have been referred to staff support at work and have an appointment on the 27th so I hope that will be of help. In the mean time, I needed some practical solutions (i.e. visor, medical exemption, online shopping etc.) and also an outlet for how I am feeling. I did not feel able to discuss these triggers with those around me, which is why I came here as I thought there would be people with similar experiences who would understand (and there is) and maybe I could support them too.
Thank you for your time and all the best :)
Last edited by a moderator: