If your #cPTSD started in early childhood you are likely spending most of your adult years being self critical or self-hating, as well as neglecting self care. Once you get into recovery, it can take a few years before self compassion and self care becomes "automatic" behavior.

So many people carry a lifetime of wounds and burdens but they put on a happy face and carry on... until they can't. This is how trauma works. Hitting a wall and falling apart can be a very good thing because it means you will finally get the help and healing you need.

My life was broken and shattered by cPTSD I experienced as a tiny child and now I'm working to heal it. When someone dismissively says "just move on and get over it" this is the equivalent of kicking a person when they're down. If it was that easy, all people would be healed.❤️‍🩹

cPTSD is often an "invisible" disorder, especially if the person seems to be managing ok. What you never see is the anguish and suffering the person hides from the world as they responsibly work and take care of their families. Pretending to be OK drains a lot of your energy.

After I was removed from my mentally ill/addicted parents when I was a toddler, I subsequently spent years in and out of hospitals, unable to breathe. Asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia - that's how my little body expressed and spoke about the trauma I had endured.

People who live with unhealed trauma don't wake up in the morning and say: "I can hardly wait to feel awful today". They wake up hoping and wishing the day will be better than the days that came before it. Nobody wants to experience trauma symptoms! Nobody chooses that!

Your recovery is as unique as everything else about you. What works for someone else may not work for you. It is useful to use a "trial and error" approach. Try something, and see how it works for you. If it works, great. If it doesn't work, make some changes and try again.

I believe our bodies "speak" about our suffering, especially if suffering occurred when we were unable to use our voices (because we knew it was unsafe to speak)! As Bessel Van Der Kolk says: "The Body Keeps the Score".

Racing thoughts and rumination can spiral into something awful if you're not careful. Try to distract yourself and stop the thought train if your thoughts are tormenting you. Just because you are thinking something doesn't make it true!

Here are some little positive affirmations I feed my mind frequently to support my recovery. Often I speak these out loud! I also use them at bedtime because they tend to calm anxiety. I am safe. I am here, now. I am OK. I can do this.

🥰😍😇

Jason speaks eloquently about cPTSD and his healing journey. If you are a survivor you will find his story supportive and inspiring.

There is so much abuse and neglect done to kids who have no choice in how they are treated by their caregivers. Children can't say no. Children can't move away. They are captives. Their nervous systems are forced to adapt to those terrible realities.