That is the way I felt, and it was not so much about being rejected as it was being "invalidated".

The best case scenario is to find a therapist that is older and understands "your" age level and history. If you think about it, there have been times where you have said to me "you nailed it OE", well, I am older than you and in my fifties and have been working through my own challenges so I can often "hear" you better. That was something the therapist that finally helped me was able to do for me. If you talk about being a police officer or an EMT or other things you have been through, these areas won't be appreciated on the level "you" did them at the "time" you did them compared to what these individuals contend with and have resources for today experience. It's not that it is easier, but it "is" different.

When an individual is challenged with PTSD and is looking into the past from the "now" there really "is" a very different world "in the now" compared to the past when an individual is 40+ years old. So, that does make it harder to adjust in "the now" too. Well, how can someone "younger" really relate?

Ok, for example, you talk about how you restored old cars, well, that was how long ago? There were tools you used back then that are different now, the environment was also very different back then too. If you could walk into that environment now and see it as exactly the same as it was back then it could actually be a comfort, but that isn't how it is in the "now". Well, as we move forward in our lives, we often don't think about that because we are progressing along with "the now". Well, when complex PTSD takes place we are now suddenly very "aware" of how different it is.

Well, the therapist that finally did help me was "in touch" with the world I came from. That was VERY IMPORTANT because my therapist was better equipped with recognizing the world I came from because he lived it too.
If you write out a story, you have images in your mind that go with that story, that is something you can't always put into writing, and may not be able to articulate it so you can have the individual who is listening be "there in it with you". Not only that, but my therapist understands my "fears" in the now because he has experienced them as well, not something a younger person can identify with either.

It isn't "just" reading about PTSD and the symptoms, because, while the symtoms are shared by many who struggle, each individual is going to be unique in how these symptoms connect with their personal history "in the time" that history took place. Having an individual that can basically "time travel with you" and yet help you also relate that into "the now" is invaluable to "the healing" process. What it boils down to is "cultural sensitivity" and if that is not there, then a challenged individual can actually be even "more" traumatized, that is what I had experienced myself.

Think about your mother for example and how she seems to "need" you and yet you struggle to find a way to get her to be less dependent on you. Well, your mother needs to have help from someone who understands "her" level of life experience that can validate "her" and yet at the same time help her grieve whatever "her" history is and also learn how to be "in the now" and find her own way to settle into "existing in the now".

Well, it's very hard and for myself and from what I have heard from others, it's also very lonely. However, as I have mentioned, if you can connect with an individual that can really understand "where you are coming from", it definitely makes a huge difference.

That is what had totally escaped me, and for way too long, which is why I can't tell others how "long" it takes to slowly heal and finally get more and more in touch "with living in the now" again. I definitely suffered a lot of loss, and I could not seem to get ANY true validation, but instead was invalidated in more ways then I could have ever imagined. I read all about PTSD too, I was experiencing all the symptoms, but it was not a "conscious choice", I was definitely hurt in ways I did not consciously understand. It took me "time" to slowly figure it out and for anyone who experiences it, it is no easy task. I really had to learn how to be very patient and if I was triggered and experienced a cycle, that it meant something about how I was "hurt" and that each time I would slowly learn what it meant, AFTER, I was triggered.

It's "ok" to research and discover, each person is a little different and I can't say enough that you are definitely hurt and deserve to take the time you need to slowly heal. As with "any" injury, there is definitely a lot of sensitivity with this. It is important to not "self blame" with this challenge, you "can" slowly make gains on it, PATIENCE, is very important.