The past 3 days I spoke to high school classes where I work about PTSD and coping skills. Fashion I discussed the dark side of fashion…anorexia, eating disorders, plastic surgery addiction, and other out of control behaviors trying to compete in a high stress, slave labor industry. I shared the coping skills I list here. …
I ponder and wonder about things that happen in life. I carried with me a terrible burden that my mother threatened suicide when I was a teenager because I wasn’t doing enough to help her. Yet she resented everything I did to help her. I carried this terrible secret and burden for years. Last night…
Almost everyone has challenges with their family…for one there is history….sometimes a long, ugly history. Expectations are often higher for family than for friends. Walking away from family can be complicated or feels impossible. Guilt trips and button pushing can abound. I also seen another side of family filled with acceptance, encouragement, standing by each…
How does one learn to care for themselves when they were neglected/abused as a child? What does being cared for look like? I thought for years since I had a roof over my head, food to eat, and clothes to wear I was taken care of. I didn’t know anything different. Raising my own children…
I thought a lot about what I wrote over the past couple of days. The articles looking for an easy answer, the one about people oversimplifying problems, and my rant. I realize that every single abuse survivor walks around with a different set of scars and reactions to the World. I am making this list…
I am about to get on my soapbox and rant…..if you are not interested in reading a rant….please, tune in tomorrow when I am feeling a bit more reasonable. I am frustrated and discouraged by some counselors, lay people, acquaintances, webpages, memes, and others not specifically mentioned that try to over simplify Complex PTSD. It…
PTSD Break The Silence Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse wherein your partner manipulates your perception of reality. Here’s 10 signs you’re being gaslighted. 1. You’re told something is normal that you can feel deep in your bones is not. Say your husband (or partner or boyfriend or even friend) does something you find…
I help out in Early Childhood Education class. I scanned in pages to do with infant, toddler and preschool emotions. Each page had a red box declaring if the emotional needs are not met it may cause mental health problems for the rest of their lives. The words, “No Shit,” come to mind. Sadly, no…
Why bother sharing information about behaviors of abusers? Sometimes you are so used to being put down, called names, made a butt of a joke, or gaslighted that you don’t recognize the behavior as abusive. I work at a high school, about once a year I talk to the classes about boundaries and how to…
It would have bit you. Raised in the desert this was not an idle saying. Poisons snakes were serious consideration. Impending doom lurked everywhere. Sometimes I get tired of looking for the threats and ignore what is so close to me. Happened this week. I was thoroughly rattled by an encounter with a belligerent student. …
PTSD - Accepting, Coping, Thriving 