I've been wanting to start a similar thread recently so thank you for starting this. Here is my experience. I experienced several traumas growing up. I normalized them by thinking "everyone has their crosses to bear, we all go through something, people have been through worse, I'm not going to let my abusers win by letting them effect me". I felt nothing about what had happened....meanwhile my life was greatly effected. I couldn't leave the house for months sometimes, when in public I was always assessing every detail to ensure my safety. I assessed every person and put them in either a "safe" or "unsafe" category. Therapist would tell me that what I went through traumatized me. I didn't buy it because I had no emotional response to the event and felt certain I'd worked through them. My best friend who witnessed the trauma said it traumatized her and forever changed her. She told me she felt I had PTSD. I ignored it. A doctor told me my symptoms all sounded PTSD related. I dismissed it. My friend kept telling me she was sure it was PTSD because if she was traumatized by just watching, she knew it was worse for me. My mother thought it was PTSD and so did my husband. But I felt dead inside when remembering the details. The PTSD symptoms didn't care if I accepted it or not...they were plentiful and evident. Several months back something happened and it was like opening a portal to my real emotions. The flashbacks were deeply felt...the impact this trauma had/has on me became evident and undeniable. Now I chronically experience the emotions and sure hope this is a breakthrough for me and not a crash and burn. I'm interested in the eye movement therapy. The PTSD has really held me back and affected relationships.

(((Hugs)))