Frequent outbursts - any advice appreciated

Hey @Mortimer_3,

So great to hear you have a win the other day! Sometimes leaving the house and being in social settings can be overwhelming or bring up a lot of anxiety so it's great to hear you were able to take this step 👣

It sounds like the suspicion you are feeling about others around you to really starting to impact how to interact with them. It's good to hear you reminding yourself that the people around you are trustworthy. It can be hard to combat those suspicious thoughts, especially when you are dealing with CPTSD. Just remember to give yourself credit where credits due - you are still reaching out here for support and actively challenging the suspicious thoughts that come up which is pretty incredible 🌸

I will leave you with a couple of links which have helpful information on where you can reach out for support, and also an article where people share their lived experience and what helps them with their CPTSD:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder help & support - Black Dog Institute | Better Mental Health
• 'Nothing was ever your fault': living with PTSD and complex PTSD - The SANE Blog
• Self-care for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | Mind

Take care 🌿

Hi @NightPixie

I'll read those links you provided as soon as I have a spare moment.

Thank you for taking the time to respond - I appreciate it a lot. 😺

Can’t give you a huge amount of advice but I can definitely relate to that. I’m newly diagnosed at 38 and people couldn’t understand why I would be anxious when someone was approaching me and I’ve only just realised that I knew exactly who the person was and what their mood was by the footsteps without actually seeing them if you want to chat feel free to private message me I’m not very good at public posting makes me feel ultra awkward

Hello Mortimer

It’s a long time since I’ve been on here and would be fair enough to say that as a long term sufferer of PTSD stemming from time in an orphanage, abusive parenting, terrifying years at private school, extremely abusive first marriage and toss in many random errors of judgement along the way, and I can appreciate your words and thoughts with so much appreciation! I long to be

in social groups and feel connected and confident but the reverse happens and I feel uncomfortable, say things that are criticised so I don’t want to go back, I feel obliged to stay in my social isolation a while longer pondering my loneliness and the unwillingness of the world to care! I hope for both of us that that step into the public arena is a little less traumatic one day soon and maybe we will find a place to belong

Doldip15

Hey @Ollie87

Not sure how I missed your post, but thanks for reaching out 😺 It's awesome that you've been able to identify that about yourself and thankyou for being brave enough to seek that diagnosis and share a bit of your experience with me.

I can understand how you feel as I found the forums a bit daunting at first, but I've found that even without posting and just reading other people's experiences, it helps me to feel less alone.

Take care ✨

Hey @Doldip15

Sorry for the late response. I think I may only receive notifications when I'm tagged (@) in a post.

Thankyou for sharing some of your experience as a fellow survivor. Reading your post and the others on here help me to feel that there are people out there who understand and who care - it's just a matter of finding that safe space in the outside world (no easy feat as we both know).

Also remember there is no timeline, no regulation that says "you must meet people, act perfectly and form close bonds, right now!" I find those sorts of pressures mostly come from my own inner critic. Be gentle with yourself, take things one step at a time and celebrate every little win - which was getting out of my PJs for me ✨ Take care. 😺