I know I learned (the coping mechanism) that “best” way to resolve a situation is to apologize. Something that is wrong in some way = it is my fault, because I am bad = I am sorry (better apologize).
~quote notablackbarbie
Wait a minute, where did you learn this? Is that not the same as saying "Excuse me for living!"?

Yes, if you offend someone, or are short tempered in some way because your having a bad day, than an appology is in order. We all do that from time to time, and it can be very common if someone with PTSD is triggered. I have caught myself snapping back and then I realize I was triggered and snapped back and it was because I was triggered. And that is something I am recognizing about PTSD that I am working on, especially with my husband because he CAN push my buttons.

But the other thing about PTSD that does happen is there already is a deep sense of personal guilt because the PTSD CAN be so overwhelming at times. And that is another part of PTSD that one who has it has to be aware of and make efforts to catch it and correct it whenever they can. I have found myself that when I am having a bad day and can't seem to function I appologize alot to my husband. And he has had to learn how to react better to me, because in his case, he is so used to me being such an incharge person that he doesn't understand WHY I am now struggling, and I have had trouble understanding it myself. Most people with PTSD do struggle with that question and ask "when am I going to be my old self again?".

Now, with your history notablackbarbie of abuse, your probably so used to immediately appologizing that it is now a tough habit to break, as you have noticed. But your going to have to learn how to overcome that. And you can work on that here at PC. Now when I post my opinion on something and another person doesn't agree, because it is all in writing, I can look at the conversation and actually make a decision to wether or not I was justified in my opinion or I may have offended someone. And that is a really good media to learn in, because you CAN learn to leave you words and opinions out there, even if your triggered into wanting to run and delete your post. I have felt that too, I have been triggered and HAVE deleted my posts. And then sometimes I MAKE myself leave my opinion out there. Because I DO have the right to my opinion. It isn't always easy, but PC does give me a chance to work on that.

Sometimes another thing that can happen with PTSD is that I found I can read something and need to answer it, and sometimes I am triggered by the question not truely realizing it. I may interpret it wrong and that happened to me just the other day. I had read a quesiton and then I did post an answer and then later in the day actually had a flashback and went back and posted more. And I got a little too forceful in my post. I basically had to let it sit because the time to edit had passed. But I learned something from that, something about how I CAN get triggered in a way I hadn't realized yet.

So, you already know that you appologize too much, and your figuring out that it is because of your past. So that is the first step, then what you have to do is when you interact with others "slow down" and stop that urge to appologize, it really takes time because some people do it a lot. And I see that often here, especially when people first join PC, ask a question and their post isn't that long but at the end they appologize. I think that is sad and tells me that person needs support.

Keep trying notablackbarbie, but you do not have to resolve everything with an appology. If you have a valid opinion, than don't appologize, your entitled to your opinion.

(((((Hugs)))))
Open Eyes