How do you tell?

[kxCobra]

Hey everyone,

I am so glad that I found this site. I've been seeing a counselor for around a year and a half now, and I can honestly say my cPTSD would be 10x worse if it wasn't for her. I experienced a lot of emotional abuse growing up from both parents- you could make a case for physical too, but it's not typical.

The thing about it is, is that my cPTSD isn't bad, and my family and I are very good at appearing normal to the rest of the world. Growing up, appearances were drilled in to me, but now that I'm at college I've been a little more liberal in describing my childhood to my friends. It's always hard, because I don't remember a lot of the bad stuff, I just know it happened. Reading now through the symptoms of cPTSD is so great, because so much of parts of me that I didn't understand, I now realize come from what I experienced growing up.

I wish I could talk to my friends about it, but I honestly have no idea how they would react. A lot of times when I talk about my childhood or my parents, they disregard it. I understand I could have had things ten times worse, another benefit of this website is reading other people's stories and appreciating the parts of my childhood I did enjoy. I still wish my friends could understand though that sometimes problems I have, whether it is with guys, or just being present in whatever we are doing, isn't 100% my fault. Any tips anyone?

Thanks so much for any feedback.

[Three Roses]

i've promised myself i will only talk to my friends about cptsd under one of two conditions: they ask about it and seem genuinely interested; or i think they have symptoms & the background and could use some direction. otherwise it's just too painful anymore to constantly be told that it's in the past, why don't i forget, move on.... 

There is a downloadable sheet (http://www.blueknot.org.au/Portals/2/Fact%20Sheets%20Info/Fact%20Sheet_GPs.pdf) that may help you get it across to your friends. there is lots more information like that in the Downloads section of our Resources. (http://www.outofthestorm.website/downloads/)

hope this helps! take care

[kxCobra]

Thank you Three Roses! I appreciate it!