Healing Depressive Symptoms This is the fourth part in a series of posts about my thoughts while reading A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD, by Arielle Schwartz, Ph.D. For more posts like this, take a look at my page on bibliotherapy. Understanding Depression from Trauma I often feel irritable and hopeless. I also have a … A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD, by Arielle Schwartz, Chapter Four
I’ve always been attracted to attractive people. I mean, who isn’t, right? For better or for worse, people who are physically attractive are people that others want to be around. It’s written in our genes. When I was in high school, of course I wanted to go out with good-looking people. When I saw couples … Sex and romanticism
I recently came across this Reddit post about someone’s experience with their parents snooping through their things. When I was a kid, our mother would go through our things any time she felt like it. Our things were not our own, and she would claim anything she wanted. Our father would go out of town … Invasions of privacy
I was always told by my mother that I should be grateful to be alive, to have a roof over my head, to have food to eat, to be able to go to a good school. The idea was that she was my savior, and I was beholden to her. It invalidated the idea that … Gratitude sucks
Healing Invasive and Intrusive Symptoms This is the third part in a series of posts about my thoughts while reading A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD, by Arielle Schwartz, Ph.D. For more posts like this, take a look at my page on bibliotherapy. Understanding Invasive and Intrusive Symptoms I often experience anxiety and hypervigilance. I … A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD, by Arielle Schwartz, Chapter Three
There are some nights where I don’t sleep well at all. I nap and have bad dreams, then I wake up and think it’s close to morning, but in reality, it’s only been an hour or two since I fell asleep. Last night was one of those nights. I fell asleep only after reading for … Dreams of flashbacks
A few weeks ago, I had a really good talk with my partner. It seemed like they were receptive to my explanations about what’s going on with me. About a month before that, we had an understanding that I would be working on reorganizing the basement, by myself, except for their stuff. Last night, they … Arguments and misunderstandings and housing insecurity
Healing Avoidance Symptoms This is the second part in a series of posts about my thoughts while reading A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD, by Arielle Schwartz, Ph.D. For more posts like this, take a look at my page on bibliotherapy. I Am Learning to Be Here Now Alicia thinks about running away. I often … A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD, by Arielle Schwartz, Chapter Two
I didn’t realize this until relatively recently, but I have social anxiety. I’m an introvert, which means that I need alone time to recover from interaction with people. It doesn’t mean I don’t like people or don’t enjoy being around them, but what it does mean is that after I’ve been with people, I need … Social anxiety and trying new things
Dear T and S, You may not remember me. After all, it’s been over 30 years since we last saw each other. Nevertheless, I remember you. I existed. I was not particularly happy. I was not particularly sad. I was mostly alone, but I had one good friend. That friend brought me to S’s congregation. … An open letter to two rabbis