I know I keep talking about this but it keeps being relevant!

You're currently going through a pandemic, which has resulted in a quarantine. This is unprecedented and there's no clear end date.

You have ever reason to be Not Okay with this.

Many will have cPTSD afterwards.

The "c" in cPTSD (or C-PTSD) stands for "complex". This isn't to say PTSD isn't already complex, it's just the official term to distinguish the two types of PTSD from one another.

PTSD is, generally, for big, one-time events that cause trauma. You got mugged or raped, someone broke into your house and threatened you, a natural disaster destroyed your home and/or nearly killed you, etc.

These events aren't recurring, but are so huge they cause trauma.

cPTSD, on the other hand, is for ongoing, constant, repeating, long-term things. This is what happens when your day-to-day life is filled with terror. People in abusive households frequently experience this kind of trauma because they learn, every day, that they aren't SAFE.

You can have both types of PTSD, and you can develop either at any time, and of course, traumas can build on each other. Someone who has PTSD from being assaulted a few years back can totally develop cPTSD now. Someone with cPTSD can develop PTSD from a hurricane now.

(Hell, I think those of us who already have a form of PTSD are MORE vulnerable to develop it yet again because we're already hurt.)

My point being: This is exactly the kind of situation that can cause cPTSD. Not everyone will develop it, and that's fine. They aren't "stronger than you" this just isn't the thing that would traumatize the (but that thing exists, they just may have never encountered it).

But MANY of us will either walk away with our first case of cPTSD or our tenth.

What matters is that you know that this isn't a failing or weakness on your part.

Your whole life was thrown out of whack. The whole WORLD was thrown out of whack. Everything is...wrong.

Usually, when our own lives fall apart, we can at least count on the routine of the world continuing to plunge forward. There can be a strange comfort in that.

Now? Now nothing is normal or routine. The whole world has changed.

And it's scary and weird and unknown.

And everyone's locked in their houses, isolated from everyone and everything for an indefinite amount of time.

We're not supposed to gather.

Everything but essential stores are closed.

There's gonna be lingering damage after this. There's gonna be confusion, and knee-jerk reactions (like, "NO I can't go visit my sister's new baby!" even if the pandemic is long since passed). There's gonna be fears that don't serve you or make sense anymore that you can't shake.

We'll bounce back, humanity is good at that, but it will take time, and some of us will never quite shake certain fears. Our society WILL be different after this. Not bad, just not exactly how it was before. And that's okay! I just want everyone to be ready for it.

Study and learn and understand what PTSD & cPTSD are. Continue to do as much as you can to keep yourself healthy, happy, and stable. Be prepared to deal with this moving forward, and still have lingering effects long after.

Knowing won't FIX IT but it can save you so much time.

And pain. And shame. And fear and confusion and further pain.

Knowing what this is, and that there are ways to cope, treat, or live with it, that you can heal and grow from it, will make this journey far less terrifying. And far less lonely.

And as always, if you have questions, my DMs are open. I am not a licensed pro and I won't pretend I have all the answers, but I have enough to offer support, resource suggestions, and understanding.