Originally Posted by batgirl

Tiana and nurse1, welcome to the forum! I hope you both get as much out of it as I have.

Yes I think this is one of the main reasons people want to find like sufferers, they want to be validated. Also, for me anyways, there is a constant urge to compare myself with others. I want to see how I measure up. But both of these thinking patterns are incorrect. You don't need validation of this kind, your trauma is yours alone and even if someone shared a very similar experience it would not be the same as yours, as we are all different people. By the same token, comparing yourself to other people is also wrong. We are all individuals, we react and heal at different paces. That's why it's so important to look at the symptoms and the illness itself, rather than how we got the illness.

Think about it this way... if this was a support group for cancer survivors, we wouldn't be dwelling on how we got cancer, but rather on how we survived, the treatments we were receiving, the pain and other symptoms we were experiencing, etc. Think of your PTSD in the same way. I know it's difficult though, I struggle with it myself still, all the time.

Anyways, just my thoughts, a little convoluted as I'm coming out of a difficult period myself right now. Take care, both of you.