What I Wish You Understood About My PTSD

Post traumatic stress disorder is exhausting, frightening, and difficult to cope with at times. I know that my PTSD not only personally affects me, but also the people who are close to me. Many of the people close to me just don’t understand how my PTSD affects me and it can cause friction in my relationships with them. Everyone’s experience with PTSD is unique to them, but here are the five things I wish people understood about my experience with PTSD:

1) I can’t control my symptoms.

This one might seem like a no-brainer, but I can’t tell you have many times I’ve been told to “Just calm down,” “Just let it go,” “Just don’t let yourself get so worked up.” If I could simply not let myself get so worked up – I absolutely would. I can promise you that.

2) I don’t always know what will trigger my symptoms

Believe it or not, after living with PTSD for eight years, I still don’t always know what will set off my symptoms. I do know/recognize most of my triggers, but every now and then something out of the blue will set me off and I can’t help it. Please, please be patient with me.

3) I can’t always explain why a trigger triggers me

By that I mean sometimes the explanation alone is too much of a trigger for me. Sometimes though, I’m still not exactly sure why something triggers me, I just know it does. Regardless, I don’t appreciate being interrogated about my triggers.

4) I have a difficult time sleeping due to my PTSD

So next time I’m tired from a sleepless night, please don’t tell me to “go to bed earlier”. I go to bed early, trust me, I do. Unfortunately, some of my trauma occurred at night while trying to fall asleep and, therefore, nighttime is a big trigger for me. I do take medication to help me settle down and go to sleep, but sometimes it’s just not enough.

5) I don’t need you to fix my PTSD, I just need your love, support, and patience.

I don’t need my friends or family fixing my PTSD – I’m already working with my own counselor and psychiatrist to help manage my symptoms better. The only thing I need from my friends and family is for them to accept me, love me, and be patient with me.