You Know You Have PTSD When...

[Recovery4Me]

@TreeHugger :hug: I apologize then...and offer sincere empathy for your plight. I have needed to close my PO Box for two days and have felt the same. So perhaps my trying to cheer 'us' up seemed calloused. Again, apology and I will leave the comic relief with the professionals.:hug:

 

[StarChild]

@Recovery4Me, don't apologize. I know you meant well. And one of the many gift of being close to someone, is the freedom, to express ones true feelings, without having to fear of getting rejected. Wishing you a good night's rest, dear big sis. :hug:

 

[Recovery4Me]

@TreeHugger xx I think it is good to have this trust between us, to be able to offer our raw feelings and say,"Ouch, I still do not feel heard!" In this manner I was given a chance by you to try again to sooth my friend, if only for a little. That is a gift...and I thank you.:hug:

PTSD is when you can understand your friend just triggered and love them up!:)

 

[Changing4Best]

... when you wake up 5 hours after finally getting to sleep the night before, and wonder if you can make it through the day, since you know you won't be able to go back to sleep until the next night.

 

[Ronin]

You call a friend in a good mood and they ask you if you're suicidal, again. And then follow up with 'Nevermind you'd deny it'.
You congratulate yourself though, on 'these days their first thought ain't if I'm high'.

 

[Changing4Best]

... when you get caught up into some imagined future that is awful, like worst case scenario. And you need to pray often to God to take away these thoughts. He does take them away. Reading the Bible or a biography helps also, filling my mind with positive thoughts.

 

[The Albatross]

@SheilaKathy , honey that is a maladaptive thinking pattern... consistent with other mental disorders but not necessarily a component of PTSD. You are being called to notice your disruptive thinking styles/behaviors I think.

 

[Recovery4Me]

When you carefully place a PTSD SourceBook on the coffee table for casual (?) reading.;)

 

[Ladyghosthunter]

....when PTSD is another form of "don't f*** with me" ......

 

[Changing4Best]

... when you fear for an old friend who has PTSD because you fear that you could get into the kind of mess she is in now.

 

[Let It Be]

...when you spend the night re-living a conversation you had with someone. My neighbor from across the street came over to see what plants/flowers I had planted in my flowerbed.

She came inside and I immediately began to get fearful of her because she was so angry about everything. She even told me about an encounter that she had had and commented that she wasn't going to be as nice like I am when she dealt with it.

I am beginning to see a pattern with her and I can't handle someone being so negative and angry. I knew not to say much as I began not to feel safe.

 

[Anrish]

...when you get scared just by the thought of a situation and the anxiety it might cause on you and you realize that the anxiety inside you is more scary than the situation itself.

....when you begin to dissociate in a crowd and can't use all your senses. (Could only use my ears, didn't see my surroundings - only blurry...glad that my best friend pulled me out.)