Yes, these episodes that come up are intrusive and inconvenient and can throw off a day. I think it is important to keep in mind that when a trauma takes place it is something that a person lives through, didn't have a way to stop it or understand it, or was caught off guard in some way.

I have used the example of snakes a lot here, a person goes for a walk in the woods and is so busy looking at the trees and other things doesn't see a snake on the ground and gets bitten. From that moment on the person will become obsessed by snakes and will always be distracted every time they walk in the woods from then on. That being said, the person will also make an effort to identify the snake and learn all about it so the person can develop more awareness and be more careful, even learn what snakes are poisonous, where they can be found verses what snakes are not poisonous and while a bite may hurt, you will survive it. Yet, even though more knowledge is gained, a walk in the woods will always be different, this is the case with human nature and in the nature of all mammals as it is simply part of how we become aware, more careful in order to survive and thrive.

The reality is that a lot of people have these challenges and they will avoid certain situations that they feel makes them uncomfortable for some reason. All people develop their own coping methods while they navigate life and being around others. It is just that with PTSD, these different challenges are "magnified" which make it more intrusive and inconvenient for the person who has PTSD.

All challenging life experiences changes a person, no one can go back to who they were before a bad experience takes place and we all do have bad experiences. The important thing to recognize is that while these inconvenient reminders happen, you really do not have to decide to feed into them or even decide you are now cursed or will eventually face some kind of scenario where you might lose everything either. When these episodes take place, do something that is mundane so your brain can realize, OK, no emergency, stop producing the cortisol or adrenaline for the fight or flight response, and as you do the mundane and your brain realizes this, the cortisol or adrenaline build up will dissipate allowing you to calm down and focus again.

Mowtown, you have gained substantially, you have made some good choices and have decided to engage yourself in life again. You have taken control of the adrenaline and you do things to burn it off leaving you with a more satisfied feeling. You also need to learn to develop good skills in "meditation or yoga" so you can also utilize those skills to engage a "calm and clear" in your mind and body as well. As you slowly take over and build these skills, while it will not change how you have experienced a trauma and are now more aware, it will provide you with more ability to develop control when you have an episode which will help you shorten the episode instead of unknowingly feeding into it where it affects your whole day.

You know you can have good days now, you can see that you have been gaining too. Give yourself permission to keep building on that even though there will still be these off and on reminders that come with PTSD, and yet in all honesty, most people do experience some of these challenges and may just experience what they call, "having a bad day for some reason".

When I am saying all this, I am in no way minimizing or trivializing the challenge that PTSD presents. However, instead I am encouraging you to
keep moving forward with the understanding of the challenge and supporting you to keep your mind open and doing good self care so you do keep gaining.

(((Hugs)))
OE