Resolve to Rise

What is Complex PTSD? To understand how a person will behave, it helps to first understand more about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD (C-PTSD). Individuals who have PTSD or C-PTSD share many symptoms. To meet the criteria for PTSD the individual has to have been indirectly or directly exposed to a traumatic event resulting in a death or leaving a person feeling like their life or someone else's life was in immediate danger.  They also must meet the following criteria for a minimum of 30 days, not because of a medication/substance and/or illness, and it is negatively impacting aspects of their life; specifically, they...  Re-experiences the event in one or more ways (e.g., memories, nightmares, flashbacks, etc.) Avoids reminders of the traumatic event Experiences negative thoughts or feelings that began or became worse after the traumatic event (e.g., difficulty remembering aspects of the event) Has an increase in arousal or reactivity after the trau...

After something difficult occurs, there are various ways people try to support.  Some responses are helpful and others are not.  "It can be like driving down a road in the dark." I was in a counseling program when my husband unexpectedly died in bed next to me. One of my colleagues (a future counselor and chaplain) later told me he avoided engaging with me, because he did not know what to say.   If a chaplain and future counselor doesn’t know what to say, what does that mean for everyone else?   It can be scary knowing how to show up when someone you know has suffered something significant. What do you say? How do you act? What if you say the wrong thing? Will you make it worse?  It can be like driving down the road in the dark. At some points, the only thing you may be able to see clearly are the lines on the road. And, that is when you focus your eyes on that to guide you home. When you don't focus on what you can see, you may be inclined to avoid driving in t...