I think one of the worst symptoms I encounter as a trauma survivor and a mom is being easily overstimulated. I love my children, I truly do but they are loud and intrusive. They want to lay all over me and touch my arms and ask me a million questions. That’s what being a kid is all about right? And as a parent it’s our job to listen to every story and let them roll all over you. But. It is so draining and overstimulating. Lately, I’ve been having a hard time with this and have been feeling guilty about feeling like a bad mom. I talked to my therapist about this and she said something I found helpful ‘If you have the flu, you want to talk to anyone or have anyone touching you. You want to rest and feel better’. It did make me feel better to view it that way because so often, I feel like my brain is running a million trains of thoughts at one time. I feel like my brain is on fire.
I think whether or not you’re a parent, people with PTSD experience this. The world is so LOUD. People are constantly talking and moving around and invading our space. Social media has it’s place but it can also be overwhelming and very negative and always present. It’s hard to get away from the news and I feel like it’s always in my face and it’s rarely positive these days. I read an article recently that talked about depression and how we as humans are not adapted for modern life. Our ancestors were programed to fight for survival and their energy was spent on finding food and shelter. That is very different from today’s society where we worry about Facebook and Instagram and the news being reported on the internet. The article also discussed how we as humans are programed to live in nature and in modern society we are rarely in touch with nature.
I thought about this and realized so much of this was true. I always have my phone on. I’m always checking on social media and AP news and everything else that flashes on my phone. I’m doing this in my house as my children are rolling around and trying to get attention. No wonder we’re overstimulated. I’m rarely out of my house. I am determined to get outside more. I think it will be so helpful to be somewhere quiet and connect with something that’s bigger then myself. So here’s to my nature experience. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Here’s a great article about the benefits of reconnecting with nature:
Surviving Complex PTSD/PTSD 