Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Support Group

Find support with others who have gone through a traumatic experience. Whether you have chronic or acute PTSD, we are here for you.

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neocortex27 05/17/2015

Maybe you've heard of this. Someone I knew (who also suffered from PTSD) once told me about this and I think I should share it with you guys.

Kintsukuroi is a traditional japanese method of mending broken pottery with gold, making it more beautiful and precious for having been broken.

I find it very fitting for PTSD.

Our stories have made us who we are, we have been broken by things we could not control but we survived. Our cracks will always be there, visible, but they make us unique and beautiful, even if the gold of them is the additional weight we will always have to carry. There is no reason to be ashamed of having been broken, those lines show what we've been strong enough to survive.

He told me about Kintsukuroi to calm me down after I've had a very bad flashback. Then he made me repeat "I'm a japanese teacup." until I had to laugh.

Thank you all for your support! This is a group of beautiful people and I'm glad I found you!

(((((((((hugs)))))))))

52yrs2long 05/17/2015

Thank you Neo, that is a beautiful way of looking at it. Yes we were broken by events that were out of our control. So looking at as if we are always mending and adding molten gold to ourselves is a pretty awesome vision. Yes we have our weak spots where the cracks are and were, but we are priceless commodities because we contain a lot of gold. Thank you for this.

mujicaptsd 05/17/2015

Neo, that's beautiful. It resonates with a line from Leonard Cohen. In his song "Anthem" he says that there's a crack in everything--that's how the light gets in. Wow. Your great minds think alike! By the way, he may have gotten the idea from Japan. He became ordained as a Buddhist monk by living for 5 years in a Japanese monastery.

http://genius.com/2001798/Leonard-cohen-anthem/There-is-a-crack-a-crack-in-everything-thats-how-the-light-gets-in

AloneNaturally 05/17/2015

Wow! Thank You So Much for Sharing Your Wonderful Experience with Us : ) ((Hugs))

Luna113 05/18/2015

Haha! That's great :D I've heard of Kintsukuroi before and always thought it was a wonderful analogy, but this story made it better

bluedragon41 05/18/2015

I forgot the name, but yes.

...I am not purely Buddhist, but I find Zen Buddhism very very useful...became interested in it when I was in high school...
(1988-ish)

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