So many of you have reached out to me recently describing the unbearable feeling of loneliness that comes with PTSD. So let’s talk about that….
Severe mental health problems and specifically Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) comes with many side effects. One that I hear over and over again and have experienced myself is feeling alone. It’s something that is hard to deal with and work past. It’s an emptiness that you feel, at the same time it’s so heavy that it weighs you down. Sometimes it even takes your breath away. You feel as if no one in this world understands you or could ever get how you feel or what you’re really going through.
One thing that I have learned to help cope with feeling alone is, finding someone you can talk to that will just be there to support you. They don’t have to understand any of it or even relate to it. But just being there and supporting you the best they can helps more than you would think. They could be a friend or a family member. I always have and always will recommend a therapist because they can help even more.
Another thing that helps is finding a group. It could be an in-person group or a Facebook group for mental health or PTSD. Finding people to talk to that have or are experiencing the same thing as you makes you feel not so alone.
The last one is pushing yourself towards people and not away from them. That one took me the longest to learn but I found it very helpful. As I’m sure you know, PTSD and severe mental health issues can cause you to shut down and not talk to anyone. It can cause you to not even want to socialize. As silly as it sounds I would force myself to just say hi to the mailman. Hands trembling and voice shaking, I would force the word hi to come out. All I wanted to do was run and hide in my house. But instead I kept forcing myself to make strides.
After constantly pushing myself to say hi it became a habit. I would venture to say hi to a neighbor and so on. Before I knew it, I wasn’t feeling as alone. I know it sounds odd.. How could saying hi to someone help you not feel alone with PTSD? Something about it just helped me. I chose to not sit inside in my bed and be alone stuck with my own thoughts and flashbacks. I chose to get up and go say hi to someone. It would distract my mind from the flashbacks and it would make me happy because it would usually put a smile on the person’s face. I made this person smile? Because I took five seconds out of my day to say hi to them? That made me feel really good. It was all baby steps and it was all pushing me towards my healing. Now, I pretty much say hi to everyone I walk past. It’s a habit that I never want to break, even if not everyone says hi back haha!
I know how hard and dark it is feeling alone. But remember that you are not alone. Out there in this big world, there is someone that is going through exactly what you’re going through. Never give up, keep fighting, keep pushing through. Things will get better. You will get through this. Please know that you can message me anytime. I’m always here.
As Always,
You Deserve Peace
You Are Not Your Diagnosis
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
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