PTSD

PTSD doesn’t just happen to people who have experienced a major life-threatening event. PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) can occur after any traumatic event or experience. It may surprise you to discover that providing care for a loved one is one of the main causes of PTSD. Yet, the condition often goes undetected, and thus untreated, as many people aren’t aware that caregiving can lead to PTSD.

How is it possible I didn’t know caregiving is a major cause of PTSD. This snippet from an article on caregiving actually makes me feel better. It normalized what I’m going thru.
The phone rings I want to vomit. Another scan makes me want to run away. The brain fog…omg the brain fog! Why can’t I think? Avoiding talking on the phone, avoiding certain TV shows or books, terrified of people, not being able to go into a store without feeling sick. How did I miss putting that together into PTSD? Of course I have it. Duh!

But does it matter what it’s called? No. But it does help to label a bunch of symptoms that I thought I should get over. Packaging it all together makes it easier to present so maybe others will understand?