Recently one of the PTSD pages on Facebook offered the opportunity to write 3 words to describe yourself.  Please, keep in mind that I live with PTSD.  I first showed symptoms at age 5.  I battled depression, cancer, and PTSD.  Someone stated that they didn’t think it was fair that they were still battling PTSD after one year.  Someone else stated that they had been suffering for 4 years.  I added my note that I lived with PTSD for over 52 years.  No more comments were added to the post. Right now, I am in a place of acceptance and coping so that I enjoy thriving, moving forward and enjoying life.  I noticed when I came to the description of myself in 3 words post, I was already feeling a bit annoyed.  I think I was in the mood of looking for a fight.  I was tired of reading afraid, anxiety, miserable, unhappy.  I had the proverbial chip on my shoulder.   I wrote:

Tougher than Hell

People suffering from PTSD tend to forget, they already survived hell.  Doing something tremendously hard leaves the body exhausted with scars, sometimes inside and out.  I do appreciate the meme that states:

PTSD is a normal response to extraordinary circumstances.

It is ‘normal’ to feel changed after a life changing experience.

It is ‘normal’ to feel overwhelmed in overwhelming trials.

It is ‘normal’ to become hyper-alert after life threatening situations.

PTSD is a ‘normal’ reaction to abnormal existence.

 Crawling up out of a deep hole takes time and effort….lots and lots of effort.