When my sister asked me if I would do a post for her blog I was adamant I wouldn't, I wasn't ready to open myself up and allow myself to be vulnerable, but I realised that's what my sister does every single day. With every blog post she writes she's showing more bravery than I could even wish to have. So here it goes.. If this post even helps one person who is also living with PTSD or any other mental illness, then it will be worth it.
PTSD is a whole body tragedy, an integral human event of enormous proportions with massive repercussions.
Even in times of trauma we try to maintain a sense of normality until we no longer can.. that is called surviving.
All mental illnesses are debilitating, they make you feel anxious and on edge and you constantly worry and overthink about something bad happening but with PTSD, the bad thing has already happened and every single day you are learning to live with the memory of that.
I've never really spoken in depth about my struggles with PTSD. Not because I'm embarrassed or ashamed but because I've learnt that not everybody deserves to know everything about me.
Until I was diagnosed with PTSD I thought only soldiers could get it and I think many people still do think that.
The lifetime prevalence of PTSD for women who have been sexually assaulted is 50%. Sexual assault is the most frequent cause of PTSD in women, with one study reporting that 94% of women experienced PTSD symptoms during the first two weeks after an assault.
1 in 2 people experience trauma at some point in their life. Around 20% of those people can go on to develop PTSD.
