There are days when I feel high as the moon
There are times when I feel the crushing weight
Of Venus, Mars and Earth on my Shoulder Blades
-M. Niazi
If life consists of continual cycles of growth, today marks one where I am gifted with an Epiphany. I only have to check my mental luggage and rummage around. Today, I have come to the realization about Healing. It cannot happen on the Cusp of Work and Personal Life. It needs space to grow and flourish. Unfortunately, we live in a world where Work and Life are on a never-ending loop, with no chain to break the sequence of events or to quieten our timid souls. If there is a way, I have found it to be prayer and reflection with God. Even that itself, is not exactly something that always works out in our favour. God also has standards that we continually fall short of. Creation is in a constant dance of agony and ecstasy.
Coincidentally, that is what PTSD feels like; an ever-growing chasm of getting triggered by the smallest noises and wanting to save the entire starving population of Kashmir. There is no happy medium because it is intact, a medical condition lacking any direction.
Video: Healing From My PTSD
Some of the Symptoms of PTSD are:
1. Intrusive Memories:
2. Avoidance:
3. Negative Changes In Thinking and Mood:
4. Changes in Physical and Emotional Reactions:
5. Intensity of Symptoms:
While I am happy to say that I am no longer a hazard to myself (shoutout to PINK!), I am slowly working through each of these symptoms through mining my mind, soul and body to find better ways of coping and thriving. I chose to start off this series by writing about Thoughts. These are the very whisperings of our longings and goals, as well as chains that can hold our souls as prisoners. Since words are so powerful, it only makes sense to find out why PTSD Survivors have such a hateful, sometimes even vengeful relationship with words.
Additional Resources:
1. My Latest Book on Self-Love; An integral component in Healing from PTSD
https://www.amazon.com/Weeks-Self-Love-Challenge-Mary-Niazi-ebook/dp/B081Y8DVTP
2. https://themighty.com/2017/09/quotes-to-help-you-get-through-life-with-ptsd/
3. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/ptsd-trauma/helping-someone-with-ptsd.htm
