Just:
Breathe
Calm down
Don’t worry about it
Don’t let it bother you
Smile
Think positive
Have a better attitude
Think about something else
Don’t be so negative
Try harder
Be grateful that —.
Those words are so dismissive of the experience of people with PTSD. And we know. We know those things. We’d like to do them. But sometimes we can’t breathe. We can’t even start with that. We can’t calm down, our bodies don’t let us. We can’t have a better attitude, it isn’t an attitude problem. We can’t think about something else until our bodies and brains stop telling us that we aren’t in imminent danger. We are trying harder. Just being alive is trying hard enough, thanks.
We live with what we live with, with live with trauma that didn’t leave us, and dismissive words don’t serve us.
So don’t tell them to yourself. You are enough, wherever you are in this journey.

They also say this to me when I suffer from anxiety and it makes it only worse. People don’t understand how hard it is. I so can understand you
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Hugs! I agree! People don’t know our trauma, and they shouldn’t dismiss our pain. xoxo
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That is so true! Thank you.
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