That is a question that people who struggle with PTSD begin to ask. If I were to read all the things that people with PTSD talk about challenging them, I don't think I would believe it without experiencing it myself. I would probably have the same kind of "just" answers that everyone else has tbh.

I did have a momentum to my life that just got suddenly wiped out. I had some bad things happen to me in my life and I really thought that we are supposed to just get through bad things and keep going. It really never occured to me that all these very troubling challenges I survived would be things that are a part of who I am.

What I "can" say is that every human being does wonder "who they are". It is very "normal" for someone in their teens and 20's to really wonder about what they are going to be in life, get confused and think they have to "hide that fact".

The truth is, we develope "who we are" our entire lives. We grow and become by "learning" and getting exposed to others and what is understood by whatever society we are a part of. Alot of how we feel about ourselves though, evolves by how we are treated by our parents as well as our siblings and our piers. So unfortunately if we don't get "positive" messages, we can start with a confused sense of who we are.

When I presented with PTSD, I really felt totally confused. But I knew enough to take that "diagnoses" and begin to read about what is known about it. Then, somehow I realized that who I was in learning about PTSD, was a person struggling with that disorder. As time passed, I also realized that other people who didn't know about it, or experience it for themselves were not going to really understand "me".

I realized that I was actually lucky in that at least I could learn about what is known about PTSD and even gain access to others that also have it and talk about the same kind of challenges. I also began to realize that people in general, are all somewhat "unique" and that "in general" people never really do understand the depths of each other. So, even though, I do struggle with this disorder, the reality is that it is "common" to be misunderstood as a person. People in general, are pretty much "self absorbed"" and often base their opinions on how they were raised, the culture they grew up in and how they were "appraised" by others according to whatever societies feel is a "worthy person".

The entire effort in "healing" from PTSD is all about reviewing whatever might be "distorted" in our "self belief" that we may not realize. It is also realizing that we can either choose to agree with the opinions of others, or we can begin to listen to our "self talk" and decide to make corrections and slowly give ourselves permission to develope a "healthier self". And what I am discovering myself is that it "is" work.
In other words, when I get angry, or sad, or feel unsafe, they are all "feelings" that I can either choose to "agree with and feed into", OR, I can learn about "why" I feel these feelings and that I can actually "learn" how to help myself work "out of these feelings" slowly and develope "more control".

It has been one hell of a challenge for me, not anything I ever dreamed experiencing either. What I have been "slowly" realizing is that I have been slowly "gaining" and even though I am still being challenged, I "am" seeing enough progress that is encouraging me to "keep trying". And I have decided that "I don't have to be someone great or special", I only have to learn how to be the best I can be and to keep learning.