You Know You Have PTSD When...

[Ronin]

When nothing of the language you speak at the moment is of any use and bits of it just drive you nuts.
When it's not screams that get to you, when it's the deafening silence.
When you can't remember the people you were closest to other than by darned nicknames.
When oh, static. How do I even describe that particular trigger.

 

[Changing4Best]

When you fall down and hurt yourself and your back hurts from the impact and you fear that you will have this pain for the rest of your life.

 

[Anrish]

When you feel triggered because you don't like a movie somebody lent you.

My sister gave me this movie because she thought I might like it. I couldn't get over the first ten minutes...and I feel horrible because I already know that I will justify myself - instead of just saying "I just don't like it". ...there are so many things most people like that make me feel uncomfortable or worse. Just from the thought about how to explain it to her...I had flashbacks of me during school. When you didn't like what everybody else liked you were excluded. I was always an outsider and I don't want to be alone again - only because I'm honest....

 

[Anrish]

When you are at the supermarket and begin to feel nervous because there are already people behind you who wait for you to pay and pack your stuff away. ...and when you almost panic because you forgot to ask for some collecting points the stores offer with all those people behind you...(I asked nicely and I got them).

 

[Changing4Best]

... when you remember something that happened years ago and get upset about it all over again. And realize that you should have voiced your opinions about it back then, but you didn't.

 

[Recovery4Me]

When the benign occurrence triggers and those horrific events seems an unfortunate part of daily life.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

When you're doing laundry and you turn on the washing machine but no water comes out. And you can hear the machine is on. And then you realize you turned the dryer on and not the washing machine. And the dryer is empty.

 

[jaccat]

When it suddenly occurs to you, after years of having done it without noticing, that whenever you eat out alone in cafes or restaurants, you always sit facing the door.

 

[Deleted member 27340]

...when your friend has been able to guess most of your trauma history based solely on how you react to certain things, but you're still in denial claiming it can't be real...

 

[Ocean5]

you always sit facing the door.

Yes even when not alone. Back to wall to watch entire place.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

When you repeatedly apologize to the doctors and nurses in the emergency room for "wasting their time" on your second degree burn that you thought had become infected but they said it wasn't.

 

[lalacoastalsc]

I feel so "normal" now. Yep, thanks for the smiles.