#Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD

[starfishinthedistance]

I talk to many people who say things like "oh I have trauma but I don't have PTSD", but then when I talk to them a little more I realize that they most likely do, they just can't recognize it as such due to how lacking PTSD awareness is, even beyond the whole "it's not just a veteran's disorder" thing.

The main reason they think they don't have PTSD usually has to do with flashbacks and nightmares, either they have one but not the other or have neither. But here's the thing, those are only two symptoms out of the 23-odd recognized symptoms. Flashbacks and nightmares are two of the five symptoms under Criterion B (Intrusion), which you only need one of for a diagnosis. The other three symptoms are unwanted upsetting memories, emotional distress after being reminded of trauma and physical reactivity after being reminded of trauma (i.e. shaking, sweating, heart racing, feeling sick, nauseous or faint, etc). Therefore you can have both flashbacks and nightmares, one but not the other, or neither and still have PTSD.

In fact, a lot of the reasons people give me for why they don't think they have PTSD are literally a part of the diagnostic criteria.

"Oh, I can barely remember most parts of my trauma anyway." Criterion D (Negative Alterations in Cognition and Mood) includes inability to recall key features of the trauma.

"Oh but I don't get upset about my trauma that often because I avoid thinking of it or being around things that remind me of it most of the time." Criterion C (Avoidance) includes avoiding trauma-related thoughts or feelings and avoiding trauma-related external reminders, and you literally cannot get diagnosed if you don't have at least one of those two symptoms.

"Oh I just have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep, but I don't have nightmares." Criterion E (Alterations in Arousal and Reactivity) includes difficulting sleeping outside of nightmares.

"But I didn't have many/any trauma symptoms until a long time after the trauma happened." There's literally an entire specification for that.

Really it just shows how despite being one of the most well-known mental illnesses, people really don't know much about PTSD. If you have trauma, I ask you to at least look at the criteria before you decide you don't have PTSD. Hell, even if you don't have trauma, look at the criteria anyway because there are so many symptoms in there that just are not talked about.

PTSD awareness is not just about flashbacks and nightmares.

[borderlesbian]

i don't want to heal i want them pay for what they did

[recoverr]

you're not a monster. you're you. you're flawed, yes, but you're also incredibly alive. just human. real. capable of great things, capable of change and growth, too. don't define yourself by the inner critic lashing out at you. you're not your worst moments.

[aurangg]

Something really not talked about with trauma disorders is the paranoia.

Being scared and jumping to conclusions when people stand a little too close to you, not believing people’s compliments and thinking they have hidden motives, not believing when people tell you they like/love you, thinking that strangers you see on the street want to hurt you, etc.

[borderlineangel222]

i’m afraid that one day my anger will overshadow the little love i still have left for the world

[defiantsuggestions]

Listen to me. Listen. Listen to me. Please.

You don't have to earn the right to call the suffering you went through abusive.

I keep seeing people say, "I don't think I have a right to say I was abused because it was never physical," and "I don't have the right to say I was abused because it wasn't that bad," and most infuriatingly, "I don't have the right to say I was abused because I know I was loved."

Please. I am begging you.

I was abused in countless different ways for a long long time, and I am telling you, you are allowed to call your situation abusive.

You don't need permission, and I don't care if someone else 'has it worse.'

You are allowed to call it abuse.

It's okay. You aren't disrespecting anybody. You aren't taking attention away from "real victims." You can acknowledge your situation is fucked up. You can call it abuse.

[didtipsandhelp]

When you're dissociating and someone asks you if you're okay

[neuroticboyfriend]

time with complex trauma is like. i need to do everything all at once and if i don't i'm a failure, even if there's nothing to do. three months ago feels like yesterday but i can hardly remember yesterday anyway. i'm running out of time. for what? i don't know. i need everything to slow down but my life is so stagnant. i can't go to sleep because the day can't end, but i need the day to end or i'll go insane. i'm constantly worrying about the future but it feels like i have no future. i'm running out of time. for what? i don't know. time has no meaning but every second is the end of the world.

or is this just me?

[spookietrex]

[babyspacebatclone]

Just a general reminder to anyone working in a “caregiving” or adjacent field.

Second Hand Trauma is real, and you deserve to take care of yourself

It’s not just doctors, first responders, or social workers - although the amount of trauma they receive on a regular basis definitely needs to be acknowledged and given protection from.

Office workers of any medical field where you regularly need to read and sort horrifying details that is someone’s reality.

Custodial staff, doing their best to keep the living environments hopeful despite the despair around them.

Childcare and school teachers who pick up hints of unsafe family environments, but are powerless to get more than the children and parents can or are willing to disclose.

If knowing other people are experiencing trauma is an inevitable part of your daily job, it takes it’s toll on your.

Compassion fatigue and burn out are almost guaranteed if you don’t mindfully acknowledge and address how witnessing the effects of trauma impacts you.

Don’t berate yourself for feeling bad when “it’s not happening to you.”

Because it’s beautiful that you care, that you have this empathy and sympathy.

But it has a cost, and you need to care for yourself in order to keep caring for those suffering around you.

[borderlineangel222]

i never felt loved by my family which is why i always searched for it in the worst places because when you’re about to die of thirst, even a drop of poison tastes like heaven.

[bipolarmango]

People need to understand that for those who have gone through trauma experience things differently.

If you went through an abandonment as a child, a breakup others would get over with in months can take years to overcome.

If you went through domestic abuse, even small changes in a loved one's tone can make you anxious.

If you were belittled your whole childhood, being professionally critized at work can feel like the end of the world.

Trauma effects us for a long time after it occurs.

[fragmented-artist]

X

Blaine

[neuroticboyfriend]

i dont think people realize how painful it is to constantly live in survival mode. like fight/flight/freeze/etc. is reserved for when you're close to fucking dying. people weren't made to live entire lives in that state. can you imagine the damage that does?

[defiantsuggestions]

You can't reason someone out of abusing you.

There is no magical string of words that will make them stop.

After a certain point, you must accept that your attempts to communicate are being ignored.

You should not be the only person trying to keep the peace.

If you find yourself saying that something is hurting you, and you've said it a hundered times already, then it is on them for choosing to keep hurting you.

[w3brot]