Be blessed that you don't have it. Be there for those that do. You may not be a medical or psychiatric professional. That's fine. you don't need to be. We PTSD survivors are real people with real thoughts, real desires and real emotions. There is a big misconception that I've run into since being diagnosed with PTSD almost 20 years ago. When getting to know new people in our lives a question that most commonly, in my experience, comes up. Are you going to flip out and try to attack me or kill me? No! That is a very telling and naive question. There are more healthy questions you could ask instead of automatically responding with a fearful question. For example;
1. Would you mind if I asked you some questions about it?
2. Do you mind talking about your experience?
3. What kind of music do you like?
4. What would you like to do for fun?
5. Are you close with your family?
6. Do you like concerts or comedy shows?
You know, things that can inform you more about that individual person.
According to the National Center for PTSD these are you current statistics in the U.S. that have it.
- About 7 or 8 out of every 100 people (or 7-8% of the population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
- About 8 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma.
- About 10 of every 100 women (or 10%) develop PTSD sometime in their lives compared with about 4 of every 100 men (or 4%). Learn more about women, trauma and PTSD. Yes that's over 8 million people in the U.S. that have it. Odds are that you already know someone that has it.
We don't need you to be our doctor or provide us with care. What we do need is to feel a sense of normalcy and acceptance regardless of our diagnosis. Of course, like with anything else, everyone is different. Different people respond differently. After having many conversations with other PTSD survivors I find that a lot of people are hiding it because of one or many reasons. A lot of us tend to isolate ourselves. There are many reasons for each one of us and I can only speak about why I do it on here. I isolate because at the beginning, after diagnosis, friends and family would say "get over it". We could only do that if we force ourselves into PTSD by consciously thinking about it. That's not how it works so saying that is very dismissive and naive. They started treating me differently and telling me I was faking it. That's even more dismissive and naive. Then there were times when I would tell new people in my life. They would most often, talk to me for a few minutes after that and then run away scared.
I can tell you what would help me more than anything right now. Is someone who is understanding and gets me out of my apartment to do fun things or interesting things. Someone who doesn't look at me like I'm a broken taboo object that if they get too close to I will cast a spell on them. I also get people that could care less about understanding it but try to fix me anyway. I don't need to be fixed especially by someone who doesn't care about my 'affliction'. A lot of times my PTSD keeps me from going into public from the fear of getting triggered. I never know when it's going to happen or what is going to trigger it. I'm getting help with it again though because it was manageable but the last 3 years it has gone from manageable to extremely severe to an almost constant roller coaster of less severe and different ranges. If you can be there for someone through support.... just by accepting and being a friend then that could be something that saves someones life. By treating them like you love and respect them just as much as the others in your life could be all of the support someone needs.
I apologize that this wasn't some of my best work. Sometimes I share my personal story through my journey with PTSD and sometimes it takes too much out of me. As soon as I start to get healthier again with this I can do that and it shouldn't be as much of a drain. I appreciate you reading my story and following me. My goal on here is to raise awareness for those of us with invisible disabilities. Feel free to comment and ask questions so we can open a dialogue and hopefully help others. I can't tell you how much a positive support system can help. Thank you for reading.
feel like i have after working helicopter medivac in saudi arabia for 7 years :(
I understand. I would look for professional help if possible. Do you have a good support system there?
not there anymore 7 years was enough ..in indonesia now :)
I hope you are in a safer place. Sending you blessings my friend.
i am ... thanks ...same to you :)
As someone with PTSD thank you! I have complex PTSD due to an accident and shocking financial trauma and extortion. My wife doesn't understand, not many do. The hard part for me is the anger. It's like I'm standing beside myself watching a tornado or anger coming from me and there's nothing I can't do to stop the rage! It is exhausting. Resteemed and following you!
I understand my friend. Have you had the chance to get some professional help? I went through EMDR therapy it and I can't tell you how much that helped me. I'm hoping to start it again soon.
No, I haven't. No help here in Vietnam. We'll see if I can ever make it back home.
that sucks. I'm really sorry to hear that. Where is home? If you have a chance there's a documentary about meditation and PTSD someone sent to me on here. It's called "free the mind". I've started meditation recently and it does seem to help.
Thanks for sharing. I don't suffer from PTSD myself but a couple of my friends do. One of my friends wrote this about using cannabis to help with his symptoms which I also found insightful http://www.ismokemag.co.uk/cannabis-and-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/
I appreciate you sharing this. I have seen documentaries about cannabis and PTSD. It mentioned a lot about "cannaboid receptors" in the body and central nervous system. It's pretty interesting. It's not legal where I live though so I have to wait for that.
No problem, everybody should have access to the information - I think it's a crime against humanity that people (in my country included) still do not have medical access to cannabis!
agreed. hopefully it will be passed here soon. Hopefully for you as well.
Thank you for sharing; I have many friends affected by the recent tower block fire, in West London. They will need all the help and counselling possible, I hope I, and the relevant people can give it to them.
Cg
Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that. I've been through EMDR therapy for mine and it was helpful for about 8 years. It made it very manageable. I've also seen a few documentaries on PTSD and new treatments. One of them is medical cannabis (which is not legal where I live.... yet) and another one was on meditation for therapy. It actually looked pretty successful. I've been dipping my foot in the pool with meditation and seems to help a little. Although I'm very new at it but if it can help a little with first starting I guess that is a win. :) If you'd like the documentary is called "free the mind" I hope it helps. I'll be sending you and your friends blessings.
Thanks so much for the info! I will be checking out EMDR and also the doc.
Check out @ericvancwalton, he has just written a book on meditation, and has put the first few chapters up on Steemit. It looks good, and it should help you.
Remember meditation is a test of will; so don't get too frustrated at first, when you find it hard to concentrate. It gets easier... :-)
Cg
I was thinking about you last night and how you told me that you had some friends affected by that horrible fire in london. How are your friends doing? Also how are you?
Thank you for asking, to be honest I have been so caught up with work at the moment, that I have just been suppressing those feelings. We are all in shock, however there are people who this has affected more than us.
A lot of us are caught up with trying to get justice, I think that's our best way of coping. Once I get this week out of the way, I can deal with other things, I am at a bit of a crisis point with my business, and really need to concentrate on that for now.
Cg
I understand. I'll be sending you some good vibes for the betterment. Let me know if I can do anything. Also sending your friends good vibes. I believe that the unseen support is a good help as well :)
Thank you very much, it is indeed appreciated :-) We shall hopefully start with the healing process this week...
Cg
that's great advice. thank you for the link as well. I'll check it out. I often wonder if I'm doing it wrong. Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to write today about service animals. After I wrote you earlier I remembered I forgot to mention service animals and therapy animals. They can be a FANTASTIC support system. I had one until about almost 2 years ago when she died. It's amazing the affect they have on you.
Congratulations @creativeusername! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honnor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPBy upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!
Thank you so much for opening up and sharing your story! My sister and I were diagnosed with PTSD when we were 8, where at the time we had a bipolar dad off of his lithium. It was from trauma but I still carry the symptoms of it as an adult. I am still able to switch off my emotions and 'fly in neutral', which may seem like a good thing, but it really isn't I have come to learn. I'm so sorry you are going though it, this is such a great way to inform people! You did great work, following :)
thank you for the follow. I'm so sorry that your still affected to this day. I understand though. My stuff was decades ago but I'm still affected by it. I know it's hard and I know about flying in neutral and compartmentalizing. I'm with you on that. I've recently discovered it's not a good thing for me either :) We'll get through this. Together even. As soon as I figure out how I would like to start a group on here and we can all talk and collaborate together and maybe help eachother raise awareness. I'm still pretty new here though and I'm still pretty confused about a lot of things. Because it's changing and growing and there are a lot of old articles and such.
I really appreciate your sincere reply, it is very encouraging to know there are other people at a similar phase in the process. That would be so great, I would be 100% on board in joining and interacting. Following, we will definitely get there, would love to share the journey!
Thank you for sharing. Posts like yours are a big support to me.
Peace and Love
I understand and that's why I'm here on steemit. Sending you love my friend. I had to take a few months off but I'm back now. :)