How PTSD happens
PTSD happens in many different ways, such as traumatic events. These can be like any of the following:
- car accidents
- birth
- major injuries
- death of a loved one
- loss of an animal
- sexual assault
- rape
- sexual abuse
- domestic violence
- neglect as a child
- homelessness
- war overseas(military)
- verbal abuse
- violence in general
There are more, these are just the most common
PTSD doesn’t just affect veterans
It affects more of the population than anyone realizes
What does life look like for someone with PTSD
Depending on the level of trauma, typically higher anxiety and depression
Guilt– Even if they are not in the wrong, guilt will weigh heavily if something goes wrong
Anxiety– can be from large groups of people, or a current situation, sometimes this is a daily occurrence and always be anxious about something going wrong
Depression- a lot of the time with depression, we tend to feel like we are a failure, and when things don’t go right it makes us feel worse and about the size of a grain of salt
Triggers– usually caused by anything recognized by the 5 senses that takes them to a time that was a traumatic experience to them
Insomnia– With heightened levels of anxiety, it becomes hard to sleep with constant thinking
A different perspective than most
Once experiencing something traumatic, you tend to think deeper about everything
It’s more difficult to take things with a grain of salt, everything you hear is processed on a deeper level
At the same time, it makes you stronger, more resilient to life’s punches
Sometimes, with living with PTSD, it makes trusting and loving even more difficult, especially if someone close to you causes or contributed to the trauma
The healing process
Healing from any sort of trauma can be difficult and always takes time
There is no good way to gauge how long it takes to heal, honestly, that is left to the mind of the person
The time it takes to recover from trauma, which has different stages is not voluntary
There is no expert that can tell you exactly how long it takes, nor what works for each individual person
This much I know, after getting professional help for the last 5-6 years, they can guess, they give you temporary bandaids like medication to help you in the meantime
Medications have proved helpful, once I found the one that worked best for me
They do the best they can, every situation is different and no matter how many workbooks you do, your body and mind has to heal on it’s own time
There are also different factors that apply to the recovery, such as age it happened, seriousness of the traumatic event and level of damage it causes mentally or physically
The best thing i have found is to either block it out and move forward, accept what happened and make a change to your life that eliminates the possibility of a reoccurance, and confiding in a trustworthy person
Personally, I find it difficult to work with a counselor, i have yet to have a single consistent counselor, even for my (step)children
The body and mind heals itsself over time in it’s own ways, the best way to help is find someone you can trust to talk to, remove yourself far from where it happened, and give yourself the grace to heal, in a healthy way
Try not to let depression eat you alive, and find happiness where you can
Those with PTSD tend to be harder on themselves, and need support
Professional help is great, but the real support comes from your family, whether its your mom or your spouse
It’s important to have a lifeline of support when you need it
As a person with different types of trauma (car accident, rape, sexual abuse, recovering addict) I have found support on the home front is the most important thing
With all the bad life deals, there are days that are so depressing it’s hard to leave bed, let alone wake up
Yes, even with children
It doesn’t mean I don’t love them
My own brain, tends to occasionally go into shut down mode from trying to rest to where I could sleep for 24 hours and still be exhausted
There is a guilt carried, even though I’m not at fault for the trauma i’ve been dealt, I tend to wonder what I could have done to prevent it and I carry guilt
How can you help a person with PTSD?
- Let them know you’re there to hear them out and help
- Offer to help with daily tasks if you can
- Check in on them occasionally
- Let them know they are important
- Tell them they are loved
While these are a few things, these types of things are huge to people who struggle with everyday life
Sometimes there are days where it feels like an internal battle to leave the bed or take a shower
Doing some of these things for someone with trauma can make a huge difference.
I hope you found this post helpful and I would love to hear your story, because life is tough and the world is too.
Feel free to email me or connect on social media 🙂
@adayatmoms
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