Dear Melanie,
We’re not good friends but we’re very familiar ones. We even sleep together, or should I saw awaken together from horrible dreams or lay awake together with anxieties and memories.
I’m with you when you’re in an elevator with strangers because more often than not, strangers mean potential attackers. You just never know, or so I like to remind you often.
You know that tension you feel whenever you hear a noise at night? The one that makes you want to recheck that all the windows and doors are locked? That’s me too.
And those nightmares, the ones you don’t have for months but then crop up for many nights in a row, giving you jaw pain, a headache and tense muscles that last for hours after you’ve awoken? Yes! It’s me!
We may not be friends forever. We may be friends for awhile and then say farewell, but it’s hard to say. Sometimes I’m a forever “friend”. For many people, I get less and less but linger in the background and crop up with handy little triggers here and there to remind you I’m still lurking.
I shouldn’t tell you this but there are certain things you can do to help. You should probably ask a therapist about it because if I tried to be an expert about myself, well, that would be boasting so…just talk to a professional.
The good news is, I’ve been with you long enough to know that you’re strong and mighty and no matter how much of a jerk I can be, you’re better than I am and you’re going to do alright.
Your “friend”,
PTSD
I recently shared my testimony on my blog: http://melaniespickett.com/story-day-became-victim/ Come read my story of victim-turned-survivor.
Meet Melanie P. :
Melanie Pickett is a mom, wife, writer, blogger, and Jesus girl. Melanie spends most of her time at her own blog, melaniespickett.com where she writes about her domestic abuse survival, healthy relationships, life, and faith. She is busy with her work in progress, her first nonfiction book. Melanie contributes to Sonoma Christian Home where she is an Associate Editor intern and contributes to The Mighty. Melanie has been featured on BlogHer.com and published on Splickety Magazine, Whole Magazine, Breathe Writers Conference blog, and various other blogs as a guest writer. She is a volunteer at Proverbs 31 Online Bible Studies. Having worked in the medical field for nearly two decades, Melanie recently “retired” so she could concentrate on her family and writing career. She is also a substitute teacher. Besides writing, Melanie loves to read, playing piano, listening to music, helping and encouraging others, volunteering, movies, dreaming of tropical getaways, and hanging out and cheering on her very favorite people: her family. Melanie lives in west Michigan with her husband, two teen children, and her pug Gracie. They recently said “until we meet again” to their beloved beabrador Lillie. Her favorite Bible verse is Jeremiah 29:11 and one of her favorite quotes is: “They call us the dreamers, but we’re the ones who never sleep.”
Defying Shadows 