PTSD is one sneaky son of a bi*tch!

It’s not simply the traumatic thing that happened, or the relationship, or your childhood. It’s how it has taught you to think about yourself and the world around you.

If you’re exhausted this is why - and it’s no wonder! You have been dealing with SO MUCH for waaay too long.

Let's break some of these down into why and how they are PTSD symptoms

Avoidance

In this context we participate in avoidance in a effort to prevent uncomfortable emotions. Particularly the ones that have a lot of charge to them like fear, sadness, or shame. The brain and body are already in discomfort so it makes a lot of sense that we don't want to expose ourselves with more discomfort. Particularly when we feel we are not capable of handling it. So we avoid the feelings or situations that we fear are going to increase those uncomfortable feelings.

This plays differently with various coping mechanisms. Meaning, some of us withdraw from relationships so we don't get hurt. Some of use substances or disassociate. The reason that we do this is that it works. For a while, until it becomes more harmful than helpful.

Sleep Issues

Any sudden or prolonged sleep issues are one of the first indicators that some sort of action needs to be taken. Sleep issues shows up on so many mental health checklists because it's the body trying to alert us to act. The main red flags are: sleeping a lot, having trouble getting out of bed, calming the mind at all to sleep, or falling into exhaustion or chemical sleep quickly only to wake after a few hours without being able to fall back asleep.

Always on Guard

Otherwise known as hyper vigilance. This is your brain constantly spinning so that you never find yourself in a dangerous situation again. It's exhausting and propels you to see threats everywhere.

Persistent Shame and Guilt

Constantly feeling guilty about everything is a trauma response. It's the subconscious mind trying to control a situation in which we feel powerless. The guilt is taking ownership of something, which is not your fault, in an effort to get your power back. As you heal the trauma you heal the guilt.

Negative/Intrusive Thoughts

Labeling these thoughts and feelings as negative is as surface level as calling Hitler a bad guy. Negative thoughts can come fast, uninvited and feel absolutely crippling.

Rumination, thinking over and over a negative, unhealthy or dangerous situation is one of the major indicators of PTSD. It is disruptive and "turns off" healthy problem solving and is one of the major disruptions of sleep. The volume of this gets turned up with overwhelming feelings of shame and sleep deprivation, creating a vicious cycle.

If/When this shows up, often outside support is needed to break that cycle.

Lack of Concentration

Concentration and memory loss are common symptoms of PTSD. States of high anxiety can disrupt how the brain encodes information. You may find that you are limited in your ability to notice things that are going on around you. Add that to sleep disruptions and negative thought cycles and it's no wonder that it's difficult to focus on a task.

Loss of Interest

In life, day to day activities, and other things that normally give you joy. Avoiding certain activities, feelings, thoughts, or places that remind you of the tragedy.

Flashbacks

Your brain and nervous system are reliving the traumatic experience while awake. It's a waking nightmare. Flashbacks are sudden and uncontrollable often resulting in panic attacks. Unlike a movie that has a perfectly shot reenactment, this vivid sensory experience can be a smell or seeing something that reminds your brain of that moment where you were unsafe. A garbage bag on the side of the road gives your brain the visual cue of a body bag and the same feelings come rushing back.

Trauma is a terrible cage to live in and life can feel REALLY SMALL if that’s all you know. If you are ready to do some trauma work, some identity work, and reprogram your mind so that you can reprogram your life let’s chat. No one deserves to suffer like this.