What is PTSD? PTSD is a mental illness that is caused by a traumatic event in someone's life. Many people associate PTSD with veterans, but the truth is it can happen to anyone. Symptoms can include but are not limited to reliving the traumatic event (flashbacks), depression, anxiety and paranoia, nightmares, and even can cause physical symptoms. PTSD can and does affect relationships.
The effects it can have on relationships can be major. Paranoia and anxiety is probably the hardest for the person who loves them to deal with. To me this is the hardest because it makes them have doubts. The person you love begins to think you don't love them. That they're not good enough for you. That you would be better off with out them. Hearing them say over and over that you're a liar hurts. It's not their fault that they think it but it still really fucking hurts. Every time you hear it, it makes you want to cry, because it feels like you're not good enough. That you some how screwed it all up and put those thoughts into their head. But you didn't. You didn't do anything wrong. So you just have to learn to accept it and remind them that you do indeed love them.
What are flashbacks? Flashbacks are seeing and reliving the trauma over and over, it's like it's real, that it's happening all over again. Watching the person you love have a flashback is hard, it's probably the hardest thing you'll ever have to witness. The fear you see in their eyes is like nothing you've ever seen before. You just want to hold them and tell them it'll all be okay, but you can't because things will never be completely okay when you have to relive the worst time of your life over and over. So all you can do is be there for them. Tell them that you're there to listen if they ever need to talk. Hug them. And when they're ready to talk about it, if they want to talk about it, they will.
Nightmares are almost as bad to see. They're asleep so there's even less you can do. When you love someone you learn their sleeping habits, how they breathe, their sleep position, how fast their heart beat is. But when a nightmare happens, everything about them changes. They breathe faster, they tense up, their heart rate speeds up. All you can do is cuddle up to them, hold them close and just be there.
While depression is something many people experience its worse with PTSD. There's more to be depressed about. Harder to pull yourself up out of the depression. Harder to cope with. People turn to drugs, alcohol, and self harm. Anything that will numb the pain or make you forget the world for a while. Then depression can turn to suicidal thoughts, because if you're dead you can't feel pain any more right? You can't relive it over and over. But suicide is not the way out. Suicide may take your pain away, but it passes it on to the ones who love you. You are a bright spot in their life gone all too soon. No matter how hard things are it'll always get better, things wont be perfect but they can't be terrible forever.
I don't have PTSD, but someone I love does. I wrote all of this from my perspective. What it's like for me to see them go through it. The things that are hardest on me. It's not the same for everyone. But i wrote this to raise awareness of PTSD.
