My CPTSD Story: What Complex PTSD Feels Like To Me
Writer’s Note: About a year ago, I landed in the hospital after four nights of not sleeping for a total of even one hour. I was then placed on a suicide hold. It was the final suicide hold I was put on before I made the decision to take my healing journey into...
When a Victim Doesn’t Know She’s a Victim: Survivor’s Guilt, the “Fawn” Response, Trauma Bonds, and Setting Boundaries
“I can’t forgive myself.” Daily, I uttered this phrase. When I said it, my loved ones were concerned. “But what do you need to forgive yourself for?” They’d ask, perplexed. For them, there was nothing I’d done that needed forgiving. The voice in my head screamed,...
“Was It Even Abuse?” Unpacking Psychological Abuse
What type of abuser can break their victim enough to land her in an ambulance without even touching her? The psychological abuser. They walk like us, they talk like us, and they may even have pristine reputations in their communities. However, nothing can prepare a...