For years I have been trying to figure out what is wrong with me and I am hoping you all can help me find some clarity. So, whenever I am exposed, be it through TV, movies, news, books, or conversation, to any situation of anyone being sexually assaulted or even just being threatened with sexual assault I have a very severe emotional reaction. My heart speeds up, my brain shuts down, I start shaking, and my mind goes crazy replaying whatever it is I have just seen or heard. I will get images in my head of what happened, feeling what they must have felt, the fear, the pain, and it will replay and replay and replay. I will start crying and feel like I am spiraling into a dark, dark place. I get very, very tired and can feel myself shutting down. It takes hours to come back down from this and then this can go on for days. It has made me afraid to go anywhere, I'm afraid of social settings where someone might mention something they heard on the news that will trigger me. I'm afraid to watch TV, all it takes is one scene and I will spend the next week fighting to keep the images from my head. I feel so fragile. I have no idea why I have this kind of reaction. Is this what going through a PTSD trigger feels like? I need hope that this is not just something I have to learn to live with. Thanks!