[BoogsB]

I've suffered numerous traumatic instances in my lifetime as a child to the age of 23 as of now.

1)Age 2 I was fed a peice of sharp porcelaine and sliced my face in half from the edge of my lip to my lower jaw complete seperation, It's been hard to look at myself in the mirror everyday. I remember watching the blood pour off my face into the bathtub thinking I was going to die.

2) Age 5 I was victim of a severe allergic reaction 50 kilometers from a hospital, Walking in a farmers field I kicked up a certain pollen that caused my throat to swell shut and prevent oxygen and electrical impulses from my brain to my various organs, I immediately collapsed and woke up in the nearest hospital being revived by doctors.

3) Age 7-8 Watching my father viciously beat on my older brother and thinking to myself that won't ever happen to me, well I did and I fought back physically. Marijuana was my only escape.

4) Age 9-10 - My very close cousin was murdered and attended his funeral, haunted me for ages.

5a) Age 13 I was hit by a vehicle at a crosswalk on my bicycle, the driver struck me and carried me about 100meters getting up to about 60km/h and immediately stepped on the brakes, launching me an additional 10 meters. Luckily I was able to walk away, for the day. I was in such shock I didn't even realize that my leg had a huge shred out of it, my friend described me as "Complacent and not all there", Maybe it was the "Disassociation" that made me disregard my injuries.
5b)Two days following that period I was stuck with a ball at school in the head, I tried to leave school repeatedly but they wouldn't let me leave without my parents, eventually my mother came to get me and took me home, immediately I started violently puking and I was taken to the hospital, The doctor did a few tests while I was screaming in pain including the knee test, which failed horribly. I felt like I was about to die and the doctor was hurrying me down the hall when I collapsed and wokeup in an MRI or catscan for your brain.

6)Age 15 I was at a house when the City task force, equivilent of SWAT raided the home I was in, I had no idea it was SWAT all I remember is seeing an my friend flying through the air, immediately followed by assault rifles pointing in my face, getting stomped to the ground and hog tied and thrown in the back room while they ripped the house appart, the weeks and months following I had repetitive nightmares and trouble sleeping, the nightmares involved a scenario where repeatedly the house was raided and I was shot everytime.

7)Age 16 - I was Sent to a mental health clinic for an evaluation simply because I didn't fit the profile of your average teenager, I abused drugs, stayed out 20 hours a day, and I was never really "All there" as they stated, After a few tests they came to a conclusion I was add/adhd, which I didn't entirely believe, they had me take a drug called Dextroamphetamine-Sulpha which seemed to facilitate more of these flashbacks and nightmares.

8)Age 16 Again, I was travelling in a vehicle doing roughly 240kmh when the amateur driver lost control and we spun viciously out of control slamming into a nearby marsh, we all walked away without injury, thanks to god, but the fear of death scarred me till this day.

9)Age 16 Yet again, I was due for surgery on my tonsil's and I had done all the pre-surgery tests and blood samples and what not. I came in on the day of my surgery everything was okay, I had just been picked up from the Youth homeless shelter by my social worker and taken there. Apparently they never gave me enough anaesthetics and I wokeup during the surgery, I had vivid flashbacks of this and still have them from time to time, They had the scapel in my throat as my head propped itself up as I wokeup, they had stabbed my throat deep with the scalpel and I remember it was like something from a horror movie, I thought for sure I was going to die. I remember gagging and choking trying to breathe and everytime I would cough It would launch a jet of blood that would cover the entire white walls of the operating room, you can only imagine how scared I was. It took about 2 1/2 months before I could eat solid food again, and living on the streets did not help.

10)Age 19 I was out in a military town partying and from what I gather my friend said the wrong thing to the wrong person, We left the bar/club and everything was okay we made it home to the apartment and had a few drinks, about 45 minutes later 3 heavy set goons came through the door, one brandishing a 9mm pistol, another with a louisville slugger and the last with a knife and a claw hammer. They ran right into the house, no chance to act and started pistol whipping everyone in the house, smashing whoever tried to fight them off with bats and hammers, I remember my split second decision to stand up and run out the same door they just came through to get help, I remember running around this town I didn't know at all hopelessly looking for someone to come help my friends, I finally found help and returned back to find blood everywhere in the house, women screaming everywhere, and a blood trail to a nearby hospital.


Anyways I was just curious if you could let me know if any of these things could be a cause of PTSD, There is still plenty more incidents of intense severity but as the PTSD says its hard to go back and remember the most damning of incidents, anyways please write me back, I've been suffering from what seems like PTSD, I have the Social struggles, Relationship issues, and issues just getting out of bed in the morning.

Anyone who could possibly direct me if this is PTSD potentially.

[phoenix7]

Hi BoogsB,

Welcome to pc central - I am sorry that you have had so many traumatic things happen to you - I hope things are better for you now

yes any one of those incidents could have triggered PTSD.

Do you have a safe place to live now? I hope so - can you get access to therapy? a trained professional could help you work through all of this and help you moe forward

take care P7