[Monarch Butterfly]

I was diagnosed with PTSD 6 months ago by a psychologist. It's from childhood and severe domestic violence. My parents and two older siblings do not know I have PTSD. My family is very unsupportive.

I'm wondering if you told friends, family are they supportive? Do they treat you the same? Feel as though they need to be careful what they say or do because they worry about triggers?

[peaches100]

Monarchbutterfly,

I don't think anybody believes it's legitimate. I am so good at pretending everything is OK, and people believe me. Trouble is, I'm so broken behind the fascade, and when I need help, no one is there. The only people who believe me and support me are my husband and my therapist.

[purple_fins]

I would be careful who to tell this to. Many people don't understand PTSD or even want to
It might be better to find a support group with people that DO understand and can relate.
Unfortunately mental struggles can't be seen and so I think many people don't want to acknowledge it -- unlike a physical difficulty, where it can be seen and better understood.
I hope you can find the support you deserve

[purple_fins]

My family will never know how I've struggled since childhood with PTSD as they are NOT the kind of people that would want to understand. but that's ok- as there are millions of people in the world that do and those are the ones I share with-- like the people here.

[leomama]

Originally Posted by Monarch Butterfly

I was diagnosed with PTSD 6 months ago by a psychologist. It's from childhood and severe domestic violence. My parents and two older siblings do not know I have PTSD. My family is very unsupportive.


I'm wondering if you told friends, family are they supportive? Do they treat you the same? Feel as though they need to be careful what they say or do because they worry about triggers?

Family doesn't believe it or care, friends don't know what to say unless they have it themselves . I've been living with it for a decade. Now I wait until other people reveal their diagnosis and then I share.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Monarch Butterfly]

Thank you everyone for you're input. I definitely do not share things with family. I recently had surgery and wrote I have PTSD and receiving treatment on the pre op forms. After dropping them off I felt nervous, wishing I didn't add that. After the fact, the surgeon and nurses didn't comment on surgery day.

Peaches I can relate. I know how to pretend too even though deep down I'm in turmoil.

[Out There]

It can be exhausting to keep up a facade , and unfortunately many people don't understand. This is a good place to share and be comfortable with people who do understand , and hopefully that outweighs the negatively somewhat

[MtnTime2896]

I have a few friends and family who've quit talking to me almost entirely, others act extremely cautious like I'm a bomb. There are some, though, that treat me the same as they always did. If I tell them something is upsetting me, they just change the subject and act like its all good (these are my favorite people to be around). The ones that are cautious show their worry the most and it gets on my nerves a bit but I'm pretty tolerant of it most of the time. The unsupportive ones, well, most of them were the ones who ditched after my cancer diagnoses and came back after I'd been in remission for a while; I've given up on any real relationship with these people. Just apart of this illness, I guess.

[TishaBuv]

My brother-in-law had been in the Viet Nam War. When my sister brought him to see the fireworks on the 4th of July, he started yelling 'snipers!' And dove under the blanket, freaking out. When she took him into this deli restaurant that was filled with all these little old people, crowded, in lines, he freaked out and started screaming he was going to 'level the place!'. That was definitely PTSD.

I was diagnosed with it, which surprised me, because I don't flip out like that. I had a traumatic experience with my father's death when I was very young. I think I got the diagnosis because I told the psychiatrist how I have recurring nightmares about my old house and can't go back to my home town, get anxiety attacks just thinking about it. Also, I felt like I became a new person once I moved from there, like I left that child behind.

When I told my family I got diagnosed with PTSD, they had no reaction at all and never bring it up.

[skeksi]

My PTSD is also from childhood stuff and I did not tell my family about it. They do not think what they did was "that bad" so I am protecting myself from a dismissive (or worse) response.

When I first got diagnosed, I told a handful of people who I thought were close friends...who seemed uncomfortable with it. We've all since drifted apart. I also told my closest friend, who is very accepting and kind. She never brings it up, but if I do, she's great with it--i.e. If I say I need to leave a restaurant because my anxiety hit.

I would be much more cautious if I told anyone else about it now. Probably only if I had a significant other (not bloody likely!)

[Prism Bunny]

How do I put this...

No, usually not. Despite the fact that I have done some extreme things like jumping out of a car because someone drove near my old childhood home and nursing home my grandmother passed away in. I do have a few people that understand and try their best not to cause me to freak out, but they also taught me how to handle my PTSD having me re-introduced to my old wounds while holding my hand.

But then you have people like my parents and siblings that either do not care or just 'forget'. Oh well.

I am pretty lenient about triggers because people are not 'mind-readers' or they do not have great observation skills, so I am not the type to attack someone for it.

[Gus1234U]

some times i feel like people who i tell i have PTSD just do things to trigger it, to see if it's real or something. if i don't act all 'disabled', i get all kinds of crap for it.... right now i'm not happy with the way i'm being treated.

[Monarch Butterfly]

Thank you everyone. I read all the posts and its sad how family and friends react to someone with PTSD. My family does not know because from past experiences I realize they would not be supportive. Plus there the ones who abused me- parents, older brother is a bully.

I'm guessing the surgeon forgot since I wrote PTSD in pre op forms, saw him a month later for surgery. No comments made. I saw an anesthesiologist a week before surgery to over those forms! He asked a bunch of questions, nothing about the PTSD.. The only thing I noticed when he was done , he backed his stool on wheels far away and then stood up. Who knows maybe that is the norm for him. Then I thought maybe to do with my PTSD. I remember shaking my head why did I write that in those forms.

[Ceara1010]

Originally Posted by Monarch Butterfly

I was diagnosed with PTSD 6 months ago by a psychologist. It's from childhood and severe domestic violence. My parents and two older siblings do not know I have PTSD. My family is very unsupportive.

I'm wondering if you told friends, family are they supportive? Do they treat you the same? Feel as though they need to be careful what they say or do because they worry about triggers?

No one in my family has bothered to educate themselves on PTSD, so there is no reason for them to treat me differently since they don't know anything about it. But at the same time it makes it hard for them to show support, too. (The one time I asked my father to learn something about PTSD he got very angry with me for even asking.)

I've tried to talk to my sister about some of the traumas that caused my PTSD, but she forgets what I tell her. It's as if the information goes in one ear and out the other. I think she forgets because she can't deal with it.

The only way my family seems to be able to show support is by being patient with me. Since this doesn't require much of them (i.e. they don't have to show emotion, have empathy, change any behavior, etc.), they seem okay with doing that. But nothing else. It's no surprise as they have always been like this.

--Ceara1010

[ThisWayOut]

It's sad to hear how many people have had really negative reactions from revealing their ptsd. Ithink I've been fairly lucky in terms of poodle that mean alot to me, though I've had mixed responses about it. Some people make an effort to understand. My wife tends to walk on eggshells at times, but mostly because I've traumatized her through some of my reactions. We are working on that though... my family doesn't really make an effort to overtly understand it, but they also don't do anything to ridicule me or make me uncomfortable around it.
I don't tell many people, though I try to remember to let medical professionals in on it because this situations can sometimes trigger flashbacks. I've told some coworkers because we were talking about mental health stuff. Some seemed to take it better than others. One immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was from being in the military, though nodded when I told her it was from "something else"...

[avlady]

i have ptsd too. accidents and years of abuse, my family turned against me. don't they realise a truck hit me? i have also had at least 5 different head injuries. i ended up in the pshyc center at my worst and i am thankful i was put there now but not at the time. i'm better off now but not completely there. wish me luck!!!

[ejayy78]

The people who know I have PTSD don't treat me any differently other than if they know I'm triggered by something, they're really gentle with me and they make sure I'm still "living in the present." However, I can count on one hand the people who know, including my therapist. I live in the deep south (USA) and at least where I'm from, in my town, PTSD isn't understood at all. Not even for military personnel, so it's not worth it for me to explain what I'm going through. People around here just push through stuff and we are raised to just get over it.