"just let go" they say. "stop dwelling on the past" as if I could pull away the glue that’s been poured all over me. as if I could scrape it off and suddenly be free. believe me I tried: I tried to scrape off my skin until the outer layer was gone and left was just a flesh wound. They said "you shouldn’t do that though". "you should just let go". But how? It’s stuck! It’s superglue! Sometimes bits of it dry. Then my therapist helps to peel them off. I show the blank spaces on my body off proudly. I say "look. A spot with no glue!". They admire and marvel. Until the minute I turn around. And t ..read more

The way my therapist talks to me makes it seem as if they actually try to understand me and they think my point of view, my thoughts and emotions are valid. It's a new experience for me, so I keep thinking either they are lying to me or I am lying to them to make them think I'm normal. Imposter syndrome for being a person strikes again I mean, I know it's a good thing. But also sort of sad submitted by /u/sakikome [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I'm now in grad school and I swear it's the third time this scenario happens to me: I start hanging out with a group of people, we become friends, at some point they realize they don't like me and decide to kick me out of the group. It happened in similar ways around the time I was in elementary school and then in middle school. Usually involves a fight and even my best friend in each group turning against me somehow. I had no way of knowing why the first couple times, but I had the chance to talk it out after the third time it occured. Apparently I'm "too much": too emotional, too obsessive ..read more

How the hell do people know if they are having 'flashbacks' or 'dissociating'? I am genuinely confused, guys. I was only diagnosed a few months ago. This is all very new to me. submitted by /u/GhostofCharlotte [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I feel like I have always grown in relationships by trying to be unlike highly sadistic people, or trying to gain more independence from them, or overachieving, or idk basically avoiding. I have no frame of reference for growing together as people because of mutual respect. I worry I am stuck in a pattern. Anybody else? submitted by /u/deepgrn [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

Tw csa and suicide Constantly in need of validation Does anyone else constantly switch between horror at their childhood and wondering if it was actually that bad? I know if this was someone else I would feel terrible for them. But for me, the constant battle between horror and confusion is draining. I know when the facts are there it is a horrible story. But then I will be like, is it actually bad enough? I know this is common, but does anyone else constantly struggle with swinging back and forth? It feels like I go in circles. There are no winners in the trauma olympics. Yet I keep putting ..read more

I (23F) have been seeing someone (25M) and we seemed to hit it off right away. I was able to be very open and honest about my PTSD and GAD diagnosis, and it turned out he also has GAD along with OCD so we bonded over being neurodivergent. but something strange happened while I was over his house. we were laying down and I started feeling a bit anxious after having an edible, and his response to this information was to choke me full force. I pushed his hand away and told him to stop and while he did, he seemed a bit surprised by my reaction. I asked him what the fuck he was thinking and he sai ..read more

The guys I date always exhibit the same traits of being self centered, selfish, insensitive to others' feelings, immature etc.. The last guy I dated, from the getgo I thought he was obnoxious, immature and I didn't like his face. And he was never even that nice to me. But nevertheless I still fell for him and treated him well. I don't understand what makes me do this, but I'm certain it has roots in my cptsd submitted by /u/Active_Muffin5219 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I didn't want anyone to fix me. I didn't want anyone to improve me. I didn't want anyone to take on the responsibility of looking after me. I could, and can do all that on my own. I just wanted a home. I'm building a home by myself now, and it's a beautiful home, but damn am I alone in this. submitted by /u/TheChaos97 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

And unfortunately this has caused me to start punishing myself whenever I make a mistake. Usually just negative self talk but yesterday I smacked my head as hard as I could 10 times. It’s only happened once before, about a month ago. And I am new to somatic therapy. I’m not sure why I am so hard on myself for mistakes. Even when I know there was no way I could possibly have done better or tried harder, I still get so frustrated and take it out on myself, or just feel horrible about myself. Especially if I accidentally repeated a lesson I have already went through and thought I had learned. Li ..read more