Who Do You Tell About Your Ptsd?

[ruedec]

Who to tell and who not to tell has been an issue for me. I think the big thing for me is I do not want to be perceived as weak and unreliable when in fact I really am strong. Strong enough to have survived and still be here. I tell people who genuinely care about me and with choosing healthier people in my life thanks to therapy it has been ok so far. It is difficult because I want to be understood and I want people to be compassionate, but I don't want to be pitied. It is a fine line. Great topic Patrick!

 

[Froggie]

I don't know if they just don't understand or what goes on through their heads. They act as if nothing is wrong with me. They play it off like I am (or should be) perfectly fine. Now I feel like I can't go to them for support.
I hope you can find someone to talk to and tell, if that is what you wish to do. I am hoping one day that I won't be thought less of or humiliated by someone else if I decide to tell anyone else down the road.

Hi Str3ngth, I can relate to what you're saying. My children are starting to understand what is going on with me especially after I have read some articles on the hippocampus and amygdaloid (type in those 2 words in the search box to see the articles). The other thing is to relearn communication abilities - being on this forum and exchanging with others certainly did help. I filter who I tell and who I don't want to tell - PTSD is sooooo complexe. That,s why only a few very close friends are now aware of my state.

 

[jesse]

I have only told a few people I have PTSD and no one in my family knows. The way I look at it Patrick is that if you feel like you have to tell someone in order to explain yourself than don't. If you feel like someone is judging you than f#$k em it would feel even worse to me if I told them and then found out they were talking shit about me and my PTSD. I only tell people I trust and feel loved unconditionally by. I hope this helps. BTW stop feeling guilty about drawing SSI because you gave your health away for Uncle Sam it's the least he can do to compensate you financially.

 

[just me here]

Sorry for your situation Patrick, and thanks for your service.

I tell no one outside of my wife and kids.

I had hepatitis C and I was pretty open about it with my friends. After 6 months of basically chemo I was clear of the virus and missing my friends too.

It seems that everyone knows that the only way to get Hep C is by needle use or anal sex, no one knows that the first cases were war heroes coming home from field hospital transfusions, or anyone that had a transfusion before the early eighties (like me). I probably picked it up through my EMT work, but who knows? I know I didn't get it through the "well known" methods.

Telling people just sets their imaginations going, and is a sure way to lose friends. I won't make the mistake again. The only people I will share this with is my family, my doctors, and the fellow sufferers I find here.

Sometimes it is tempting to just tell everyone and find out who the false friends are, but I don't want to risk losing a job over it.

 

[patrick]

Hi Just,

So glad to hear that the chemo worked on the Hep. I have sereral friends who have gone through that treatment with good success. Who really gives a f*ck how it was contracted? The good news is that there is something that works to treat it after all these years. I have one friend who got a liver transplant due to hep and malaria, and is still alive thirteen years later.

Who do you tell about this stuff? PTSD, depression, drug addiction/alcoholism, panic attacks, nightmares? Will they understand and be supportive, or will they back off and think the worst? And in the end, who really cares what they think. Well, okay, I do care. I want people to think well of me. Such a dillema.