• We are a multilingual website again. Read the notice about this.
  • Understand AI use at MyPTSD: all AI use is explained in our AI help page. AI use is by choice here. It exists if you want it, but does nothing unless you choose to use it.

General What are they thinking?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I love that you talk about normal people.

I wanted to scream at my therapist when she told me I was normal.

I wanted to scream at my boyfriend when he told me I was normal.

WTF do they know? Telling me I’m normal, what I experience is normal, blah, blah, blah, is a COMPLETE invalidation of my struggles. Cuz if THIS is normal and everyone goes through this shit, I AM FAILING MISERABLY.

Does. Not. Compute. That both told me I am incredibly strong and work harder than most. If this is true AND I’m normal, AND I’m struggling to keep my head above water..... it doesn’t all fit.

I hate being placated. I know they were trying to help, but no, this shit isn’t normal.
 
Off topic: My Vet sometimes me if a hypervigilant thought he has is normal. He has hypervigilance and a bit of OCD and he‘ll sometimes asks me if it is normal when he thinks that he should not touch a certain item cause there is germs on it.
Actually he ask if that thought is normal or nuts (that is his words) and when I say the thought is quite nutty he is happy (cause it makes it easier for him to see there is no real danger). A lot of things, nearly everything, feels dangerous to him.
He also has other types of hypervigilance, I think I have written a lot about this in the past, but he does not trust me so much with them.

Do you have that sometimes @Freida that everything feels dangerous to you? Including things that have nothing or very little to do with your trauma... like... say you wonder if there is germs on the stuff your hubby (in your case) bought on the flea market... and on the things touched by those things and so on?

Sorry for off topic.
 
OK. I took some xanex, did some yoga, closed myself in the house, and printed out train and plane tickets for the upcoming trips to force myself to not book another one. It's taken a couple days, but I'm back to being able to feel somewhat more grounded. And I have counseling today so that should be fun.

I'm both embarrassed and proud of myself for sharing. Embarrassed because, as most people with PTSD, losing control is not just sucky but it can be dangerous to me and others. Not necessarily physically dangerous, but emotionally. Plus my particular issues involve showing emotions equaling death, so being able to hide is critical if I can't get myself under control

Hubby came in the door, looked at me, and wandered off. He's well trained.

I'm still a bit bitchy -so bear with me

They don't seem like dreams either. I am still seeing them and living them sometimes for a minute or two after I wake!
yep - they never stop. never. Only the volume changes. thats the hardest thing to get normies to understand


I think letting this fact of life sink in for good would help him immensely, not only in terms of dealing with his triggers and the people in his life, but his beliefs and internalized narratives about his initial trauma as well

Oh...thats cute. No shit sherlock. Honestly I don't know if I'm insulted or amused.

It has a mind of its own too! It feels all sorts of things.

Yep .... I'm still having physical reactions. Right now there is someone grabbing my foot. yes - I know I'm alone on my couch, in my house, typeing on my computer. But I also know someone has a hold of my foot and if I don't get away I'm going to die. I can feel it. fingers/hand/pulling, panic. It is so frustrating!

This is actually an issue that terrifies me. We want to live together but I don't want to take away his safe spot and give him the urge to run.

Have you thought about a man cave outside? Like one of those outdoor sheds they turn into media rooms? If its off limits to everyone but him, and if he has to leave the house to get there, it might count as running away. I'm to the point where I can be in the same room with hubby as long as he doesn't acknowledge I'm there or try to interact with me but the idea of a place of my own to run to sounds fabulous right now.

WTF do they know? Telling me I’m normal, what I experience is normal, blah, blah, blah,

LOL _ i had that argument with my T. She went back and corrected herself -- she meant I was "normal" for someone with PTSD. As in my reactions are normal based on my experiences and diagnosis

@Never_falter yep,yep and yep. here's how my ptsd guru told me to explain it to the "normies". Imagine you are walking thru a beautiful garden. You see flowers, and trees, and grass and swing sets. I see dark spots and shadows where someone could be hiding waiting to jump out and attack me. I see weapons I can use if that happens - swings, tree branches, prickly bushes to throw the bad guy into. I see hiding spots -- will hubby and I fit in that corner under those bushes? Can I shove my nephew up that tree? how far away is the car? Where is the nearest shelter? I scan constantly trying to keep my threat assessment under control. If I'm with hubby its a little easier but if I'm with my sisters I'm on total "assess!!" mode

I don't have the ocd germ thing - but I get why he would.

Hubby and bestie are my touchstones for crazy. I was going off about having to move to Canada because of the Korea stuff recently and he looked at me and said --- "yea, you are forgetting your thought processes are broken. This is not that dangerous." It's sometimes hard to understand why he doesn't "see" it, but I trust his threat assessment enough to believe him. Most of the time. the last few days? Nope. And I know how insulted he gets because of that. I'm doubting both his judgement and his ability to protect me. And I think that is really tough on guys. I don't care -- but I at least get it so that's progress.
 
Oh...thats cute. No shit sherlock. Honestly I don't know if I'm insulted or amused.
Ha, I just saw this jab. Now I don't know if I should be insulted or amused by this reaction, given that you know next to nothing about what it took me to get this one right in my own life. That's what I meant by this disorder coming off as quite a self-righteous one toward supporters. Some, not all, think it gives them the right to invalidate the real pain, work, and suffering others have had to endure. No PTSD doesn't mean no extreme suffering in life. I'll refrain from trying to pass on my own life lessons here. Understood.
 
@Hojay
No insult was intended -- it just struck me funny because it seems like such an easy thing to do -- and yet it's pretty much the foundation of ptsd. If I could just accept it and do the work it would make it all better. But - that can sometimes be impossible.
Not self -righteousness, but depression and lashing because that it feels like I can't win and no one understands how hard I'm trying .

With that being said - I do get that how some of the supporters get treated is totally inappropriate. No one should have to live with that kind of abuse! I tell hubby that I have learned more by reading the supporter threads than I do reading the sufferer one because I simply didn't see how my behavior affected him. I think the saddest part is that I don't realize how much they care, because when I'm lashing out it makes total sense that since I think I suck they would too.
 
All of the above makes total sense @Freida. Could have come straight from my SO's mouth actually. I do get how effed up it is to try and have people only see the tip of the iceberg in terms of trying and suffering. It's lonely and isolated and quite hopeless feeling at times. And yeah, it does sound like an easy thing to do, but it's far from it. Kinda like self-compassion also. It takes a lifetime to learn, sometimes longer.

No hard feelings, I can hear that it's not so much self-righteousness but frustration. For what it's worth, when my SO says something along the lines of "how could you not think I'm a POS?" it's kind of like he's just started talking Japanese at me. That's how weird it seems to me that he would ever think he's anything other than the strong, resilient, funny, smart, lovable packed deal I voluntarily got myself in with. But I do get how he could feel that way. (Hey, not like I'm not sitting around waiting to be found out for the unlovable fraud I think I am ;)
 
You never want to hear somebody talking bad about the love of your life... even themselves.

Can my vet be an asshole? God yes he can... it doesn't mean I think he's a PoS or a horrible person. He's the man I love who's human and happens to be an asshole at times. I'm sure I'm an asshole my fair share of the time too.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Donation drives

2026 Donation Goal

Goal
$1,800.00
Earned
$910.00
This donation drive ends in
0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds
  50.6%

Trending content

Featured content

Back
Top Bottom