Living with PTSD

PTSD is not often what young adults and teens think of when you say the words 'mental illness.' More often they'll jump to Depression and Anxiety. I know, personally, I always associated PTSD with survivors of war and never realised that a young woman in Australia could experience it. That was until I felt the steering wheel go through my chest every day even after my fractured sternum had healed.

While mental illness never discriminates, it is always personalised; no person experiences any illness the same. The stereotypical image of PTSD is flashbacks and some people think that this is all there is to it. I did too for a long time. Sometimes it can take the form of panic attacks which can be triggered by anything, it can be psychosis, night terrors, drug and alcohol abuse, it can be out of the blue twitching. Every person has their own triggers and responses.

It becomes difficult because no one can understand it, even I had trouble to understand my own, but often they don't need someone to understand why they're shaking randomly, or why they're feeling physical pain for no reason. Most of the time they just need someone to hold them and tell them that they're safe. They just need someone to love them while they think they're going crazy.

Just like any mental illness PTSD can be detrimental to relationships with other people. It can make it hard to be close to people and spending lots of time with someone because that leaves you vulnerable to be seen on bad days. You feel like a burden and an effort. Some people think that you're crying because of something that was said about you, when that is actually the furthest thing from your mind because all you can focus on is your trauma. But they will never understand it. They'll put it down to you being a 'drama queen/king.'

Unfortunately, after years of losing people to your PTSD you realise, just like you are wired to react to your triggers, some people are not wired to be able to handle mental illness. But you also learn and realise who will assist you in different ways. One friend may be awesome at listening while another will be able to distract you while another will be able to make you feel like a million bucks.

If you know someone with PSTD, figure out how you can help them, you don't need to understand how their brain is wired. You just need to know how to be a friend. They just need people to love them, even if it's just a message every couple of weeks to remind them you're there. Sometimes they'll want to talk to no one but at least they'll know you're there and they will appreciate it more than you'll ever know.

Written by reader, Ashleigh Rankin, who suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder