hi there, i just posted the same thing last night! see my post ... i don't know how to deal with it either .... i watch too much tv and chase after some sort of connection in desperation which feels crappy ... i'm trying to be more aware when this trigger is happening (often) and trying to meditate on it instead of reacting and getting panicky but really hard ... i know the key is trying to figure out how to feel strong and safe within my self but don't know how to get there ... lately i'm trying to go to yoga classes as i might as well be around others and getting healthy than being at hope and joined ptsd support group hoping others there may get it ... sometimes go to cafe but i can feel alone in a crowd too ... i have roomies but not connected to them so doesn't help ...

My perspective is I am never alone (not just because I have a couple of noisy little birds), but rather because I have 'me, myself & I".

I enjoy my company and enjoy the freedom of getting to choose my own activities, and time table for them.

Maybe it's because I was married to someone who became unpleasant over the years that I feel my freedom is a luxury.

It seems like you perhaps view being alone in the evening like some sort of involuntary solitary confinement. But you have so many options about how to spend your independent time. What do you like to do? What activity would you engage in if someone was there? You can find many ways to enjoy your own company while you are still also working on developing/expanding a social network.

Don't feel so sad Ladydi. You have to start by liking you. Just read some of the posts here by people who can't seem to escape an abusive household, and it will remind you there are worse things in life than periods of loneliness.

i guess that is the problem letitbe3 ... between the anxiety and depression i don't enjoy much of anything or find much pleasure in things ... i force myself to do them anyway and have tried a million new things but can't find that spark ... i was never married so always had freedom to choose how to spend my time but i'd rather have a partner to do things with ... sick of my own neurotic anxious company and negative voices ...

This thread definitely shows what a personal struggle PTSD can be.

My PTSD started with an extremely abusive relationship that left me living under extreme fear and stress for a long time. As a result, being alone is the time when I feel best. Being around people makes me feel like a shelter pet, cowering and wanting to get away. Even when it's someone that I know in my head I'd trust with my life, the instinct is programmed. Strangers, forget it.

For someone whose PTSD is the result of an attack, it makes perfect sense that being alone would leave them feeling vulnerable and act as a trigger.

I'd recommend a dog, but I think dogs are the answer to a lot of life's problems. Mine was the only reason I got out of bed each day.

I visit my bio-net. Plants, insects and animals always have been my stronger connection. My therapy network thinks I using my bio-net to justify my continued dissociation. Sometimes I think I see glimmers of what they are trying to tell me, but...

I love my bio-net. In my life, the birds, the bees and the flowers and the trees are my masters of love.

No disrespect intended to Isaac Hayes....

i find a pet is the best therapy but kindle if you can get it for those that can get lost in a book learned years ago after an abusive relationship to be my own best friend maybe it is I make myself a sandwich and milkd and then a cookie for desert or i put a cold or hot pack on to divery my feeling of being alone soft music candles meditation ,, on and on the one that gets me off the pity pot is finding those on here I can encourage journaling even praying for those less fortunate,, I used to thank higher power for the painful stuff in my life , without it i have no real substance adversity gives the gift of substance meaning something real to offer others in the form of wisdom strength hope,,, hope it helps

Among other things, one thing is music. Playing it, listening to it, music every which way. Arfie started a thread on music last week that got over 50 replies last time I looked. It really is good therapy for a lot of us on our own.

i like being alone most of the time, but sometimes it does get to be a drag.

but mostly, i like it fine. art and music and writing can become corporeal, so in a lot of ways, like letitbe, i very, very seldomly actually feel alone.