Seeking a shelter from the storm

[Seashell]

Hello. It is my first time writing in this (or any) forum. I'm here to start moving out of the isolation and denial. Despite years of therapy and medications for depression and anxiety, CPTSD has only been brought to my attention in the last month. It's rather puzzling to me because I was forthcoming about my childhood abuse (mainly emotional from a mother who struggled with severe mental health issues and a father who was an active alcoholic for most of my life). Regardless, I am thankful to have randomly stumbled upon OOTS and this forum. Thank you all for providing a safe place to share.

I am curious if anyone has resources, strategies, etc. for overcoming freeze-flight reactions. Also any insights from experiences with Chaos Manufacture and "Control Me" Syndrome would be helpful too. These are patterns I'm continuing to get stuck in and while I know this isn't a substitute for therapy I'd still welcome experiences or insights that people might want to share about these things or anything else that might bubble up from reading my post.

Love and light,
Seashell

[Boatsetsailrose]

Hi seashell and welcome .. glad to hear you have found out about cptsd. I like you have had years of therapy and meds for dep and anxiety .
My m was emotionally abusive too I think she had bpd and my f was distant and addictive.
Re freeze flight reactions I would recommend Pete walkers book 'from surviving to thriving'. He also has a website and there are some resources on here too , he blogs here sometimes. A lot of people on the forum really respect and use his work.
I freeze - flight  a lot - grounding and mindfulness help me as well as yoga / stretching / walking. Also doing things when I don't want to do them, pushing myself when it's so hard to do anything. Breathing techniques too

[Kizzie]

Hi and welcome to OOTS Seashell, glad you found your way here.

Members may not know exactly what these terms refer to so I've linked to the descriptions of each at our sister site Out of the FOG - chaos manufacture and control me syndrome.

Although I am not overly familiar with the "Control Me Syndrome" myself, as the adult child of NPD FOO I know a lot about chaos manufacture.  It's what my parents and B did best and continue to do until this day.  Very, very difficult to live in that kind of daily chaos and drama which is why so many of us who were/are trapped by N's in our families, workplace, marriages, etc., end up with CPTSD.

In my case distancing myself from my FOO is what worked best, it reduced present day trauma and constant triggering of past trauma so I could focus on recovery.  You may find a lot more tips and strategies at Out of the FOG as the site is dedicated to dealing with someone with PDs.  It was a great help in my recovery.