Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a specific form of anxiety with relatively predictable symptoms and predictable triggers of the symptoms. I have lost nearly all of my personal and professional relationships, in part, because of PTSD–it is not a trivial matter that I can simply “snap” out of: it is a serious and debilitating illness.
It involves:
- Re-experiencing of traumatic events
- Avoidance of events, places, people, that might trigger re-experiencing the trauma
- Numbing the senses to avoid feeling anything
- A constant, alert state; being more easily startled than before the trauma
See A definition of Complex PTSD.
Physical symptoms include:
- Nausea
- Acid reflux
- Anxiety attacks that can be triggered by small and innocuous things
Emotional and mental symptoms include:
- Quick and sudden oscillation between moods
- Unpredictable emotions and reactions
- Feeling that my rational mind is not working properly
- Irregular sleep patterns and nightmares
Some posts with more details:
- A definition of Complex PTSD
- Supreme Court Request for Extension of Time page 12, or read the document from the beginning for full context.
- Would you hire this person?
- A sample of a typical morning in my life
