We would all fly off the planet. This past year is beyond frustrating. I pulled back on everything. I dumped myself into full out survival mode. I played video games and crocheted. I also worked on learning Spanish. However, I am living proof that given enough time I would not clean my craft room. I…
This question was in one of the PTSD facebook pages. I decided to share my answer here too. Q: How does one connect to emotions in therapy? I have a super strong social/protective self which is hindering my progress. A: Wow. That is a tough question. I survived by disconnecting then my counselor wanted me…
One of the biggest obstacles I had to over come was my own rejection of my emotions. My hero in high school was Mr. Spock because he had no feelings. I felt totally betrayed when one episode showed him raging with anger. I was told over and over again stupid people got bored. I was…
Living is fear is not new to me. My counselor pointed out I lived a fear based life. My childhood revolved around jumping through ever changing hoops to avoid some punishment. Then there were the weirdness of some punishments I preferred. If I complained about eating a meal with bell pepper in it, I would…
My counselor did not warn me when he helped me reconnect to emotions that these pesky things are messy, sneaky, inconvenient and down right troublesome. I am struggling in a morass of emotions of my own making. But I’ve never been happier, more at peace or better adjusted. Too many people want to runaway from…
I belong to 2 CPTSD/PTSD groups on Facebook. I don’t remember which one posted the question but a woman asked how she could help her little girl be happy again because they were going on a mother/daughter trip and the daddy said he would be sad while they were gone. The little tender hearted girl…
One of the challenges I experienced was dissociation. I separated myself so completely from my emotions that I could not name what I felt at any given time. Much of the time I felt gray…..I spent months taking pictures of gray trying to find the one the exemplified how I felt. After hundreds and hundreds…
Sadness and sorrow and grieving are no longer accepted in society. Feeling these emotions is now taboo. The assault on sadness is long time story. I remember at the earliest age the concept of a British stiff upper lip, enduring without showing any emotion for great losses. As a child I was punished for being…
Stopping or cutting off emotions. Dissociation/cutting off emotions is like freezing frogs….as soon as you thaw them they are hopping all over just the same. Why do I know this? I used dissociation to obliterate anger and other negative emotions. Sadly it did the same thing to love and happiness…only the emotions didn’t go away,…
Late at night, I know I should be trying to sleep and I am watching a rerun of NCIS. It is the episode that Gibbs persuades Timothy that after an ordeal he should seek counseling. The counselor listens to Timothy’s concerns then states, “Worry is a bully.” It was like a huge light bulb moment. …
PTSD - Accepting, Coping, Thriving 