Who Do You Tell That You Have Ptsd?

[Sqweak]

I told my therapist, my student advisor, and someone else off handily. I don’t regret doing it but I wouldn't do it again. The only person I feel needs to know is my therapist. Other then that I feel most people view it as an excuse to behave in a way that's not normally accepted and the last thing I want is to be singled out (again) in life for something I can't control.

 

[jeeps for now]

I tell my kids in hopes that they are still young enough to be open-minded and non-biased. I forgot about everyone else years ago, because there is too much misunderstanding. The ones that react like they are frightened will never let you see them again. It's much better for me to tell people I had a nervous breakdown. It's more conventional.

I once told someone I recently remembered being sexually molested as a child. That too was a huge mistake, because now they (very erroneously) think I in turn will molest other children.

Sometimes telling the truth about yourself is not the best thing.

 

[just me here]

It's not the people YOU tell, it's the people THEY tell. If you beleive in the 6 seperations principle, telling anyone is just like telling everyone. ( If you tell one person, and they tell 6 people who tell 6 more people and then 6 more are told by each of those people, 6 cycles later everyone knows).

Personally, I tell no one but my family and then only as needed with strong cautions about sharing the info, and I know it happens anyway.

Basically, if I find out that someone that shouldn't know does know, I just write them and their friends off as gossips and be done with them. Trouble is, the world is full of people that have nothing better to do with their energies than waste them on gossip. I write off alot of people.

My favorite line to use on a gossip- " does the person you are sharing this private information with me about know that they can't trust you?" Most times I get no response, but ocassionally I hear "yeah, I think so". Wow, really? Sometimes I hear "no, they trust me". Again, wow, really?

I guess you just can't understand how low-lifed a gossip is until you are the victim of one. Best thing about a gossip is they are easily spotted and even more easily eliminated from your life. Confront one today, it's kinda fun!

 

[Bachall]

Very, very few. I've been quite open about the other diagnoses in my life. If I stop at agoraphobia no one will be the wiser in terms of my behavior and limitations.

Who knows:

Hubby. Of course.

My doctor and therapist.

My pastor. This is because my service dog is allowed in the church at the discretion of the Board. Originally I'd said I only wanted to bring him on the most casual service night, for training. I had a humongeous trigger during formal Sunday morning worship and haven't been back since. We've (hubby, T, pastor) all agreed Sam is necessary for how I'm dealing with this.

My friend and partner training Sam. She has a double degree in psychology and animal behavior so she's been on board right from the start with my quirks and struggles to resolve them.

Probably I will tell two more friends. One who also has been a huge support since my auto accident, and a friend at church who recently shared that she herself has PTSD (surgery/anesthesia accident trauma).

Oh, my pastor's wife is really observant, we've had many general discussions, and has probably more or less figured out what's going on. She's a trauma survivor as well so there's another sympathetic ear there. I'm just feeling cautious about the gossip factor.

As I get into the latter circle, my caution about saying anything at all goes sky high. You see, most of these people know or could easily come to know my parents.

My "dog friends" hardly know my mom (no one knows the bear in the cave), and even if they did, they have no investment in the idea that she's a devout, involved churchgoer. And so is the cave bear.

Then there's my other family. I love, love my inlaws. My MIL is so nice and does a bunch of favors for my mom. On the other hand, FIL has the instincts of an old mountain man and doesn't like the cave bear. Any hint of any of this and it would break MILs heart, and I believe FIL would need physical restraints.

As I remember more of these things, I'm feeling the pressure of being together with these normal people, and people they would have difficulty associating with, if they knew.

Good one for the therapist, huh?

 

[ProductOfSociety]

My mother, aunt, and cousin know because they were there when things went down.
Aside from that my husband knows, but he doesn't understand it, and getting him to look into it is near impossible. He said he would be my support system, but when I speak of my past he goes quiet. I know he is listening but it feels almost as if I am sharing my burden with him, so I no longer do.
I want to try therapy again. I don't know if I am ready to take that step or not, the idea is a bit scary to me.

 

[elizabethnueve]

I always wish I had never told anyone anything ever. People can be so cruel, hateful, and can turn on you. After confiding something, people have always then begun to act as if they 'know' me. They treat me with less respect or like I'm some sort of special project case. I hate that you can't trust people.

 

[SimplyComplex]

My husband and one friend and her partner. I think it isn't something I would share often...it is private and I don't need people to make judgments about me based on what they think they know. I have told people who have witnessed panic attacks that I have an anxiety disorder. That works just fine.

 

[Bosco2153]

So...for some of you, conveying a 'lighter' diagnosis has worked better for you? Is that the gist of it? Is there a worse stigma attached to PTSD or is it just the frustration that nobody understands? I'm finding the latter to be true. And it seems that no matter what, people want to 'fix' you...snap you out of it, rather than HELP you in ways that you need them to.

 

[SimplyComplex]

For me it isn't the stigma so much as just what people understand. People understand anxiety disorder...PTSD they think of what has been shown on TV with vets. It shares a lot about my history and opens that door for them to ask or wonder what the "trauma" was. PTSD is still an anxiety disorder so it is absolutely honest.

 

[just me here]

Yeah, I think alot of the males my age first learned about PTSD watching a character named strawberry in a Cheech and Chong movie.

 

[Bosco2153]

For me it isn't the stigma so much as just what people understand. People understand anxiety disorder...PTSD they think of what has been shown on TV with vets. It shares a lot about my history and opens that door for them to ask or wonder what the "trauma" was. PTSD is still an anxiety disorder so it is absolutely honest.

I totally get it...thanks!

 

[Anna]

I didn't tell anyone except my partner. Not even my family know. It is something I personally believe to be private to me. I find it very hard to trust people and I don't like people stigmatising me. I have though noticed you can see and recognise other people who have the disorder when you have it yourself. I found a lot of my close friends also have PTSD but what is strange is we never ever talk about it with each other.