If you experienced something as difficult or traumatic it could still be having an impact on your functioning and your mental health now.
Many of us go through our lives and experience many difficult events.
Whilst they may not meet the criteria for PTSD, if we experienced them as difficult, traumatic or overwhelming then it is likely that our brain experienced it as a trauma and therefore processed that experience in a different way to normal every day experiences.
These things could include:
Bullying at school or work,
Having a parent who was violent,
Having a parent who had mental health difficulties,
loss of control,
Difficulties within the family,
A relationship breakdown,
Redundancy, loss and bereavement. If you experienced something as difficult or traumatic it could still be having an impact on your functioning and your mental health now.
Many people go through life and push these memories to the back of their mind.
You push them into a box and leave them there with the hope that you will never need to deal with them.
What we often find is that there is a trigger, a transitional period in your life such as becoming a parent, changing jobs, going through the menopause, your children being the same age that you were when something bad happened.
This trigger can remind you of things that happened in the past that are in the box. You might find that these things then keep coming into your mind.
You might find you struggle with your mental health
Maybe you feel overwhelmed and life is such a struggle, you are exhausted and drained just trying to keep going.
You may have symptoms of anxiety or depression as you struggle to put the lid back on the box and carry on with your life.
You might find yourself unable to stop thinking about these things that happened in the past. These things that you thought you had the lid on.