Nicolette~
You are very right about the bad behavior. PTSD is NOT an excuse.

The reason I asked the question is that there is a thread about shut outs and lots of other threads mention shut outs...and I guess I wasn't totally clear what a shut out was.

Because in the beginning of my ex's ptsd spiral downward, he just suddenly shut down and shut me and everyone else out. Now that is has been 9 weeks I have told him that I can no longer even be his friend because of his lack of respect for my feelings.

In the beginning I would call it a shut-out. But after a while I had to quit making excuses and call it *over*! As a person on the carer side....how much slack should be given to a person with ptsd. I mean, if someone had the flu or another illness I would also give them a period of time to be sick and get over the illness. What about the ptsd crisis....with respect to the sufferer and the carer....how should one proceed? Tough love with no excuses for poor behavior? Or give them slack during a crisis?

Sisu