What PTSD Is

[ysabetwordsmith]

Here's a brilliant post about the kind of PTSD that builds slowly, a pervasive shift in worldview, rather than the kind that comes from a sudden major shock.  This is how it can form in people who aren't front-line soldiers but rather support crew, or cops, or people living in poverty or neglectful relationships.  

Now look at the part where it talks about society not being a safe place, everyone's out to get each other, no trustworthy connections, no safety net if something goes wrong, nobody to care if you live or die.  That's what we're making our world into every time we cut public services and support.  We're making it more like the place inside a PTSD sufferer's head.  "Every man for himself and devil take the hindmost" isn't a society.  It's madness.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> (I never imagined my dreams at the age of twenty-five would involve four walls and a window.) <<

And that's what the American Dream has come down to, hoping you have health insurance and a roof of some kind. It's a disgrace.

>>And I wonder, was the system always this bad?<<

No. Very early on, it was a great deal worse. Then people decided that was untenable, so they made it quite a lot better. Now people think it's okay to let someone suffer and die if he can't do anything you want, so things are getting pretty bad.

>> The world just feels like a cold, vicious place, and I hate the thought that I'm coming out LUCKY on the stack! <<

One thing that worries me is how much effort it takes to get any kind of help. A great many people who need help do not have the time, money, energy, or other resources to fight with the system in hopes of maybe wringing loose something that will make them feel better. So if they don't have a friend or family member to do that for them, they often go untreated. Which does actually cause problems for bystanders even if people don't realize that.