{"id":873,"date":"2023-06-01T22:26:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T22:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stillbloomingme.rofitech.net\/?p=873"},"modified":"2024-03-01T22:43:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T22:43:55","slug":"trauma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillbloomingme.com\/blog\/trauma\/","title":{"rendered":"Trauma Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Trauma Thoughts<\/h1>\r\n

\"trauma<\/p>\r\n

I went out recently for my best friend\u2019s birthday and there was a big mixed group of people who I\u2019ve known for years and some who are new to me. All wonderful people. As the night wore on one of my friends, who also lives with PTSD, mentioned to me that someone in our community recently survived a really bad car accident and it had triggered her. She survived a terrible car accident herself years ago.<\/p>\r\n

We talked about how she was managing her symptoms with EMDR therapy and she was working to take care of her self but that this setback had been hard. Her nightmares were back. Her anxiety was back. She had thought those symptoms were behind her.<\/p>\r\n

Triggers<\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I\u2019ve been in her shoes many times since my diagnosis. It\u2019s hard to move back through PTSD symptoms once you\u2019ve found yourself mostly on the other side of them. For me, I have to really slow down in these moments, build awareness about the trigger and my symptoms, and reach out to my circle for support.<\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s easy to feel sad about it. I always worry it will take over my life again. And then I have to remember how strong I am. I\u2019ve been through it many times before, I\u2019ve learned so much, and I\u2019ll get through it again.<\/p>\r\n

My Hospitalization<\/h1>\r\n

\"trauma<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

On my second morning in the hospital I was trying to feed myself oatmeal. I was shaking horribly from my symptoms, the medications, and being in a new scary place. A man named Manny, who I\u2019ll never forget, sat down across from me and asked my why I was there. I explained I had been diagnosed with PTSD. He had PTSD too. And we began comparing traumas.<\/p>\r\n

I told him about the bombing and he wanted to know all the details \u2014 I could barely recall what I\u2019d witnessed without crying and he comforted me. And then he shared his story. His wife and two small children, along with his father-in-law, had been crossing the Rio Grande in Texas. He was on the U.S. banks waiting for them when the coyotes he had hired started demanding more money from him. He had already given them all he had. The coyotes began firing on his family and killed them all right in front of him.<\/p>\r\n

I couldn\u2019t believe Manny had made it through his trauma and could be sitting in front of me, comforting me. We both sat there crying. Suffering the same diagnosis. The same symptoms. And each of us couldn\u2019t imagine surviving each other\u2019s traumas.<\/p>\r\n

What I’ve Learned<\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I learned that day you can\u2019t compare the bad stuff. You have to focus on how you\u2019ll get through it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It doesn\u2019t matter what your trauma is \u2014 the symptoms are the same. This is one of the reasons why I\u2019ve been able to build a community here around PTSD. If you have it, you know what life is like for everyone else who is living with it. I find comfort in knowing I\u2019m not alone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Manny left the hospital before me and with little support. No family. Limited resources. He was going to live in a halfway house. I have thought of him a lot over the years. Praying and hoping that he found healing some how.<\/p>\r\n

PTSD Awareness<\/h1>\r\n

\"trauma<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This month is PTSD Awareness Month.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This month let\u2019s focus on symptom awareness and not the trauma we\u2019ve endured because long story short \u2014 we survived!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n