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.
I speak to churches regularly about PTSD and how to support those of us who have it. I did that again yesterday at a church, and it went well. After church, about 10 parishioners went out with me for Chinese food and we had a nice time.
Then a lady, a stranger at the next table, took a look at me and freaked out, thinking I was somebody else. She was at a table with 10 other family members or so, and she told them all I was this other person. I'd never met her, but she was convinced, and continued to freak out, yelling at me.
Like I said, I never met her. We weren't even in my own town, we were in a town over an hour away, so there was no way our paths had ever crossed. Yet she was convinced.
I spoke briefly to another stranger lady at that table, and my church folks at my table vouched for me to her that I wasn't that other guy. She believed me, yet even she couldn't console the lady at her own table who was convinced I was somebody I was not.
So the fearful lady at that table won out, and she got her whole 10 member family, even the one lady who knew better, to leave because of who she mistakenly thought I was. It was weird to watch a whole table of people move away because of a false ID of me. It was quite triggering to my own fear and PTSD.
Whatever that other person I look like did, it was bad. I sure didn't enjoy being held accountable in public for it, not having been the person who did whatever it was. Having trauma myself from things done to me in my past, things that gave me PTSD, I didn't like being miscast as the villain in somebody else's trauma memory by mistake, to say the least.
It was ironic, since the church members at my table knew I had just spoken against PTSD stigma. To me it was not only embarrassing and shaming in front of a whole restaurant of people. It felt like a case of "no good deed goes unpunished." Sigh.
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Hey All...I hope that you have a lovely, peaceful beginning of your weekI have a bunch of chores that need doing but may put them off til tomorrow and just hang out with my landlord/roomie todayWhat about you?...Anything special going on?Have a great day and take good care of you!!..Xo
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Once again I've had a fever today. I'm not going to the hospital because that's a huge waste of time but I did schedule a dr appointment for Wednesday afternoon.
Glad you had people there with you when it happened.
I'm so sorry that you went through that... It must have been awful..... Another hug and a blessing.....xo
"Having trauma myself from things done to me in my past, things that gave me PTSD, I didn't like being miscast as the villain in somebody else's trauma memory by mistake, to say the least" Oh how I understand!!!!!!!
This, for me on my end, took me back to that feeling. I'm glad, as you say, other people were there for me. And glad I could come here to describe it to you, my friends who are familiar with that old feeling it triggered for me from my PTSD's trauma of the past.
I understood from a really young age that she had triggers, and I was watching my step for as long as I can remember. But as the adult, she told the "story" that everyone else believed. I was the selfish kid.
I can never once remember her saying, "this is MY issue, I can't be there for you with that Patti, but I wish that I could".
That's the thing about your incident Muji. I understand the woman's trigger. And I even think that it's terriffic that her tablemates supported her. But the line is drawn when she doesn't take ownership of her OWN trigger.