To the editor,
I’m writing this letter to the editor to letting your readers know about something that’s important to know and understand.
Some people might or might not know this. I’ve been battling and living with Advanced Complex PTSD. This type of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is most commonly found in veterans who go off to serve in war overseas and yet it’s also been known that people who have suffered traumatic events such as surviving domestic Violence ( like I have ), losing a loved one they were a caregiver for, being a victim of sexual abuse or childhood trauma , or victims of mass shootings, these are just a few of what can lead up to someone having this form of PTSD. This is what my counselor and psychiatrist at Broadlawns have told me.
I just want to let your readers know that if they have a loved one or someone else they who might have this problem there are signs they need to watch out for and not ignore.
Intrusive thoughts, nightmares – these can happen not only at night but also during the day time, too, and I personally have experienced these myself. Avoiding people and places and things relating to certain events. (This, too, is something I’ve personally experienced and sometimes have had an episode where I’ve been told to stop throwing a fit when in all reality it’s been a flashback, not truly throwing a fit as some people call it. This is what others who have no clue what I’ve got call it it.) Vivid flashbacks (These can happen at any moment and at any time during the day or night and can take place anywhere.) Difficulty feeling positive and difficultly accepting corrective criticism especially when they do something right and positive, Self-isolation and fear of abandonment, either real or not, to the person with this type of PTSD it is real.
I truly hope that this will help shed some light on this topic and will reach at least one of your readers so that more people will have a much better understanding of what it’s like for someone like me and for the many other people out there like myself, especially my fellow Advanced Complex PTSD warriors, so that we can feel like we are able to be more a part of our communities in which we live in.
Sincerely yours, MeLinda Madison, Jefferson, Advanced Complex PTSD warrior, Jefferson
