question about nightmare..

Nika said:
Aw, I'm sorry Hear Again.

You're such a kind person with a huge heart. You can empathize so deep. You're really a special person, as far from a defect as you can get.
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thanks, nika. <hugs>
 
I dislike waking after a couple of hours, especially if there is no real projects going on.

Nika said:
And sometimes in those situations people do get killed because they do show their emotions. And if they don't it's usually due to powerful dissociation. And then the emotions pop up later. In fact that is very much like PTSD. Many traumatic situations don't allow room to express emotion. And since you're not allowed to express the emotion in the moment, it gets stored in your psyche as a flashback and you end up reliving the trauma with full-fledged emotions.
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Wow! That explains a lot of things I never really understood before.



Nika said:
Berry, are you sure you know the extent of trauma we're talking about here? I'm not sure if you do by the way you are talking about it.
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Sorry but it is impossible for me to understand some of it simply because no matter what trauma I received in the outside world I was always safe at home. My mother was my first best friend. And I never suffered sexual abuse as a child.

My early traumas came from being left handed, thinking differently than most folks, and looking like a white while being part Native American.

I was, am, and always will be an outsider where ever I go.

As I understand the posts from you and Hear Again it was actually inside the home where you suffered your greatest traumas.

This makes the crimes committed against you all the more heinous.
 
I'm glad I could help you better understand the nature of trauma, Berry. If you ever have any more questions please post or PM me. I might be able to explain.

There are actually terms in the mental health world that refer to what you're saying. Things like being left handed, falling off your bike, etc., are called small t trauma. They are like wrinkles in the rug of your life.

Things like being in a really bad car accident, being raped or abused, being exposed to combat, etc., are called big T Traumas. These traumas are like having the rug swept from underneath you.

The difference between small t trauma and big T Trauma is enormous, just like the laws of physics completely change when something is going at 600mph versus when it's going at the speed of light. The difference in degree changes everything. As a result the way the traumas affect the human psyche are completely different.

Your suggestions work beautifully for small t traumas. For big T Traumas, it's best to use other tools in the shed.

Hope my explanation made sense.
 
small t traumas require coping mechanisms while big T traumas require professional guidance under the care of a qualified therapist trained to work with those who have PTSD.

berry, i too, am left-handed and suffered small t trauma as a result. when i was in preschool, my teachers slapped my left hand with a ruler repeatedly and tied it behind my back in an effort to get me to stop using it. i've heard of these kinds of things happening to alot of left-handed children -- especially in the 60s and 70s.

the second form of small t trauma i experienced was in 5th grade when my teacher washed my mouth out with soap in front of the entire class and made me apologize for something that had nothing to do with them (missing a violin lesson). needless to say, i was humiliated.
 
i'd like to make a polite request if i may. let's all (myself included) try to be careful of what we discuss. besides myself and nika, there are probably many others here on ad who have PTSD and the last thing we want is to trigger anyone. i was triggered by some topics yesterday and had to leave the thread as a result. thanks for your consideration.
 
Hear Again said:
i'd like to make a polite request if i may. let's all (myself included) try to be careful of what we discuss. besides myself and nika, there are probably many others here on ad who have PTSD and the last thing we want is to trigger anyone. i was triggered by some topics yesterday and had to leave the thread as a result. thanks for your consideration.
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Thank you, Hear Again. I, too, had to leave the thread yesterday because some of the topics being discussed triggered me.
 
I was triggered on several occasions too. I'm sorry if I triggered anyone. I will try to be more sensitive about the words I use and the topics I discuss.

If I keep using a triggering word for example, please don't hesitate to tell me that word is triggering. I'll be happy to find another word.
 
This thread was very hard for a lot of people but it also seemed to be educational for some. If anyone would like to know more on this topic without fear of triggering other readers, feel free to PM me.
 
Nika said:
This thread was very hard for a lot of people but it also seemed to be educational for some. If anyone would like to know more on this topic without fear of triggering other readers, feel free to PM me.
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i would also like to extend the same request. even though the diagnosis is very new for me, i would be more than happy to answer any questions people have about ptsd.
 
Nika said:
I have so many dissociative techniques up my sleeve my therapist has a hard time telling what form of dissociation I am using at the moment. Dissociation I think shows up the most from childhood abuse, especially sexual. I might be wrong though.
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You are correct.
 
Nika said:
People don't hire folks with mental illnesses for the same reason they don't hire deaf or blind people. Ignorance.
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Exactly. And people with mental illness are protected under the ADA as well.
 
jillio said:
Exactly. And people with mental illness are protected under the ADA as well.
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that's right. i had to inform someone of this on one of the bipolar message boards i participate on. unfortunately, many people with mental illness are not aware of this fact.
 
to continue this thread, i have an appointment with my therapist on wednesday. he advised me to write a letter to one of the people responsible for my traumas. it felt good writing the letter, but i'm looking forward to seeing what my tdoc's feedback is. my next project involves writing a letter to the other 2 people who have traumatized me.
 
Hear Again said:
to continue this thread, i have an appointment with my therapist on wednesday. he advised me to write a letter to one of the people responsible for my traumas. it felt good writing the letter, but i'm looking forward to seeing what my tdoc's feedback is. my next project involves writing a letter to the other 2 people who have traumatized me.
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I am glad for you! I did that and it just p*ssed me off at them more.

You are a very strong person.
 
Hear Again said:
to continue this thread, i have an appointment with my therapist on wednesday. he advised me to write a letter to one of the people responsible for my traumas. it felt good writing the letter, but i'm looking forward to seeing what my tdoc's feedback is. my next project involves writing a letter to the other 2 people who have traumatized me.
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Wow. You are making a lot of leeway and you are determined to heal! Good luck with writing the letters. It's intense but at the end it's totally worth it, as you know already from writing the other letter. If you need any online support I'm here for you.

<hugs>
 
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