Category: CPTSD
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The Spanish-Speaking Afghan Cook
“To avoid any negative attention, the cook from Afghanistan learned a few words in Spanish and pretended to be Mexican. He never actually told anyone he was Mexican but never corrected anyone either. Because of his thick accent, he remained as quiet as possible. He relied on the chaos and background noise of the kitchen…
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Eighteen Reflections on What I’ve Learned in Eighteen Years of Sobriety
Life will go on with, or without me. Whenever tragedy strikes, my energy is better spent thinking of others. Just because it feels like the world has stopped, doesn’t mean it has. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and trauma are all diseases of perception. All three work to kill its host by convincing them they aren’t afflicted.…
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Take The “Me” Out Of “Shame”
“If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.” -Brene Brown
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Most Precious Gift
“… We often cope in the wake of our own personal traumas, remembering the wounds as we struggle to see the growth stimulated by terrible events. Resilience has no meaning without disaster.” -Riley Black (The Last Days of the Dinosaurs)
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Pancake Resentment
“The kids ate them and were thankful, but I could tell by the mass amounts of syrup they used that they were not the type of pancakes they were used to. I felt a sting of rejection that bothered me more than it should have. The inkling that I had a resentment against pancakes was…
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What’s is it like to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder?
“During my time in treatment, I started to understand how mentally ill I was. There is a saying that “only crazy people think they are normal”, in my experience – this is 100% true. I had inklings that perhaps I hadn’t adjusted well after my trauma, but I didn’t realize how serious it had become.…
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Skipping Grey Rocks
“By the time I perfected the “Grey Rock Method” – I no longer needed it. My mother passed and a lifetime of manipulation and triangulation passed with her. However, as we all know just because we don’t need something anymore, it doesn’t mean that we always discard it.”