PTSD After Abuse Part 1: What is it?
Finding Relief from Trauma and PTSD
Set aside fear today. Rest from the unresolved pain, anguish, and torment that may rumble like a winter storm, in your thoughts and in your soul caused by crisis or trauma that you’ve experienced. Take time to explore, learn, and find answers to why it hurts so much even after the traumatic experience is over. Be refreshed that you can find relief if you believe it’s within reach.
Understanding PTSD and Its Impact
PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) may follow you after a crisis experience. I discovered the aftereffects of the crimes inflicted on me when I was a child hindered my ability to feel safe and free from fear. I also struggled to concentrate when too many sounds, people, and their activities were circling around me. With the help of my counselor, encouragement from my husband, and a handful of friends, I learned to stop the cyclical memories of the traumatic events and now live freed from the stronghold post-trauma stress once claimed over me.
Do You Recognize These Symptoms?
Have you experienced recurring nightmares, flashbacks of unexplained traumatic events, or memories of a crisis that linger? Even if they are intrusive thoughts or ideas you can’t fully explain. Do you feel as if you want to withdraw from people and activities that you once enjoyed? Do you replay portions of past events in your thoughts that feel unresolved? Are you afraid to take a closer look at these intrusive thoughts and uncomfortable emotions? At one time, I answered, “Yes!” to each of those questions. I wanted to find answers and discovered it required many steps to find them and then took many steps to heal from there.
What Is PTSD?
What is PTSD? And when does it happen to a person? PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a mental health condition that sometimes occurs after a person falls victim to a crisis. A victim is someone who is harmed or forced to suffer under a circumstance or condition. PTSD is identified by the symptoms of stress that develop post or after a person experiences the crises or trauma. Mayo Clinic defines, describes, and outlines PTSD in this article written August 16, 2024. Stress is defined and considered a normal daily, psychological, and physical reaction to the demands of life. If the stress-related incident injures its victim to levels where they no longer can endure or cope with the trauma, they may find it difficult to function day to day.
My Personal Experience with PTSD
Recurring nightmares intruded on my life many years after the crisis occurred. I was a victim of multiple crimes when I was a child that nearly claimed my life. Because I lacked the vocabulary to fully communicate what had happened to me, I was unable to get help at the time the cruelty was inflicted on me. And because the perpetrator’s strength overpowered my own, I could not protect myself. As a result, I held the reality of what happened in a hidden place inside where I didn’t recall the entire scope of the crimes committed against me. However, I experienced fear, physical pain, and anger that I couldn’t explain, sporadically, for many years after the crimes occurred.
PTSD Symptoms and Reactions to Trauma
The Mayo Clinic describes, “After surviving a traumatic event, many people have PTSD-like symptoms at first, such as not being able to stop thinking about what's happened. Fear, anxiety, anger, depression, and guilt are all common reactions to trauma.”
“Most people who go through traumatic events may have a hard time adjusting and coping for a short time. But with time and by taking good care of themselves, they usually get better. If the symptoms get worse, last for months or years, and affect their ability to function daily, they may have PTSD. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the event.”
Breaking Free from the Storm of PTSD
PTSD could be a storm in your life that just seems to hang over you and hold you in fear. Maybe you are afraid to get help; uncertain somebody out in the world will listen, care, and believe you. I was. I was afraid of what I would discover about myself and my past. And that, in itself, generated more negative stress. I took small steps to explore what was behind the unexplained flashbacks, discomfort, and fear. I didn’t have the answers, so I contacted a friend who encouraged me to get help. I prayerfully researched and interviewed various family therapists and counselors until I found one I was comfortable with.
You Are Not Alone
I’ve learned that hardship is a guarantee in this life. And we never have to cope alone. Even when we feel alone, we are not. Mark 4:35-41 reassures us that Christ’s power to calm our storms is abundant and never ceases. It requires faith to understand when Jesus calms the storm.
“35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’
39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’
41They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’” (Mark 4:35-41, NIV)
Resources for Healing
Parents, partners, spouses, who are looking for help after rescuing a child from abuse or those of you who were once victims of abuse during childhood and struggle to be free from nightmares, intrusive memories, flashbacks, and or may be withdrawing from loved ones, consider breaking free from the crisis that binds you. You are not alone, and help is available. Refer to my resource page. You will also find contact numbers and websites available to victims and their families. For immediate help, call 911.
What’s Next?
There are many symptoms of PTSD, outlined in the Mayo Clinic article in the link provided in this blog. I’m going to address the symptoms I experienced and share with you how I personally grew and overcame the adversity of being a victim of crime in Part 2.
Additional Resources:
Mayo Clinic Organization Website: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967,
American Heritage Dictionary; https://ahdictionary.com/,
For clinical and statistical data related to child abuse, you can research further at the Wiley Library, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?AllField=child+abuse+and+maltreatment
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark 4:35-41&version=NIV
Revelation 21:4 — King James Version (KJV 1900),https://biblia.com/bible/esv/revelation/21/4,4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away
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