gaslighting

I’m triggered.

/ hopeforsanityblog / 4 Comments

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Being triggered is exhausting.

It feels like being in a constant state of fight or flight.  It feels like panic.  It feels like a reduced ability to think clearly and stay calm.  It feels like fog, a buzzing in my ears.  Everything sounds too loud, lights are too bright, smells too strong.  My clothes touching my body make me feel disgusting, fat and out of control.  Ana is screaming at me not to eat, while another part of me is saying that not eating will make me more panicked.  An internal war begins.  I feel like I’m in danger.

If someone tells me to “calm down” or “not worry,” the panicked feeling turns to desperate anger and I find it hard to keep it hidden inside.

If the trigger goes on for a long time, especially if it is combined with actual real life danger or stress, I eventually become exhausted.  I am desperate for the uncomfortable feelings to pass.

And in the desperation I always begin obsessing about self harm and sometimes suicide.  Intellectually I know that this doesn’t make sense, but it’s my brain’s default setting for  TOO MUCH STRESS!  I learned about 4 years ago that my suicidal ideation is a red flag, it’s a signal from my brain that I need to reduce my stress ASAP.  It’s not really about dying, it’s about ending the horrible painful, out of control panic feeling.  NOW.

My main ways of coping with self harming thoughts and suicidal ideation is by trying to tune out.  I do this mainly by surfing the internet, checking facebook, texting, checking my phone and also by blogging.  I find that technology is a good way of tuning out the self destructive thoughts for a while.   So sometimes, when I’m checking my phone too often, even if it annoys you, even if it seems impolite, try not to judge, I might be coping and distracting myself from negative thoughts.

Another great way of coping with triggers is exercise.  Before I developed arthritis I used to cope by running.  That was amazing.  I miss it so much.  Walking can help, getting out into nature can help, dancing can help, moving my body and letting some of the pressure release.   But when I’m at home, my go to coping during the evening (the most difficult time of day for self harm urges) is texting and internet time.

It’s hard to explain triggers to people who don’t have PTSD.  People who live with panic attacks or generalized anxiety can understand parts of it.  But PTSD triggers are a little different somehow, because they are connected very tightly with actual bad events which have happened in a person’s life.  It becomes very difficult at times to distinguish between immediate stressors in day to day life, and abuse/danger/violence.

Triggers can also be emotional.  For example one of my main triggers is feeling like I am not being believed, or even might not be believed when I’m speaking my truth.  Another is feeling like I’m going to get into trouble for doing something which is reasonable and not generally perceived as negative.  These feelings are related to gaslighting, emotional abuse and systemic/systematic institutional abuse and neglect.

When I’m triggered what I need is to get grounded as quickly as possible.  If I can’t get grounded then what I need is to keep myself safe and as calm as possible.  Sometimes this means that I want to be at home, be alone, or be with people I feel safe expressing myself with.  Staying safe sometimes means spending hours online after the kids are asleep, or lying in bed all evening because I don’t trust myself to make safe choices.   I’m not being lazy, I’m protecting myself in the best ways I have learned how.

Sometimes when I’m triggered I disassociate or space out.  I might seem emotionally distance or cold.  I might be more emotional, or my emotions might seem out of proportion with reality.  That’s because they are!  They are a reaction to reality PLUS the past trigger related to abuse and violence.

I know I’m not doing a perfect job at life when I’m triggered.  I constantly worry that others will judge me because my capacity to perform at my highest level is reduced.  My brain will literally shut down, I will have problems remembering things, trouble finding the right words under pressure, I might cry or freeze up, grow silent or suddenly angry.  I might be impatient with the kids when they haven’t really done anything wrong.  I might snap at those close to me, or not be as kind as usual.   I don’t mean to.  Believe me my level of guilt is so high that it contributes to the problem!  I know I’m not acting “normal” but I can’t help it.   Sometimes I need space to get grounded, sometimes I need others to remind me that even though it’s difficult I’m doing my best and that is good enough.

If the triggers are entirely related to the past, and no danger exists in the present, for example during consenting sex, it helps for the other person to remind me “you are safe right now, it’s 2016, you are with _____, nobody is going to hurt you”

If the triggers are related to the past, but there is some threat in the present moment, it helps to acknowledge both sets of feelings are real.  Yes, this situation reminds me of the past, that is difficult and scary.  Yes, there is some threat in the present and that is scary too.   I  might need to get grounded FIRST and then brainstorm solutions to the present situation.  Sometimes self care can play an important role in grounding.

PTSD is invisible, triggers are invisible, all this is happening inside my brain and my body is reacting.  It sometimes feelings as if the past is happening all over again.  Especially when triggers lead to flashbacks.

Please understand I’m doing the best I can.  PTSD is a difficult illness and because it is invisible it can be hard for others to understand.

Compassion helps triggers.  Everyone deserves to feel safe.  But when you live with PTSD, feeling safe can be like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.  When you aren’t quite sure what the needle looks like, or if it is REALLY in the haystack!  You aren’t even sure exactly why you need the needle and what you are going to do with it when you find it!

Yes, life can be confusing.  Triggers can be confusing.  PTSD can be confusing.

Tonight I’m confused, but I’m coping as I write.

 

Gaslighting

/ hopeforsanityblog / 1 Comment

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“Gaslighting: a form of mental abuse in which a victim is manipulated into doubting his or her own memory, perception and sanity”  -Wikipedia

Gaslighting.  Gaslighting. Gaslighting.

It’s all I can think about these days.  It’s been 967 days since I moved out of the house I shared with my ex-husband.  2 years and almost 8 months.  I was naive back then, I actually thought that moving houses could end the gaslighting but I was wrong.  The incredible thing about gaslighting as a form of abuse is that its impacts last long after the abuse ends.  The manipulation gets inside the victim’s head.  The self doubt, which sometimes extends to an level which almost resembles paranoia, can be paralyzing.  “Maybe I am really crazy,  maybe I’m the one who is abusive,  maybe I’m the one responsible for the abuse, maybe he was right about me, maybe nobody will believe me…maybe, maybe, maybe…”

If you have ever found yourself thinking these types of thoughts within a relationship or after escaping, you may have been a victim of gaslighting.  It can happen within families of origin as well as dating relationships.  I also believe that (at least in my experience) the psychiatric, legal, police and child protection systems collude in gaslighting survivors of violence, especially woman, and especially marginalized women.  In a victim blaming, rape culture, our entire society is complicit in gaslighting survivors of violence.

My first abuser X was a gaslighter.  He manipulated me into believing that he could not live without me, that I was essential in his life and that he loved me deeply.  The thing about gaslighters is they know their victims, they know them in a way that is designed to search out weak spots, and gather information that can be used in a tailored and effective manipulation.  I am an empath, a caretaker, a caregiver, someone who thinks deeply about the well being of those around me and about the society we live in.  Empaths are particularly vulnerable to gaslighting, as the perpetrators are often narcissists. There are lots of interesting articles circulating about toxic relationships between empaths and narcissists.

I believe that X knew these things about me, things that in a healthy relationship are considered strengths, and he turned them against me as weapons.  He knew that threatening me directly would probably have little impact, so he talked about suicide in ways that strongly implied he would literally die without me.  I was 15-16 years old and I believed him completely.  I thought that I was helping him, I felt important and useful and even loved.  He would turn on the love and shower me with attention, notes, gifts and phone calls.  But when we were together he ignored my boundaries.  He didn’t seem to understand no or hesitation of any kind.  He just did what he wanted.  I began to feel like a sexual object, irrelevant and I learned skills like disassociation and distraction to minimize the impact of the sexual abuse.

Part of the gaslighting was making me believe I was helping him, and as long as I felt I was doing good I stuck around.   Part of the gaslighting was the intense shame I felt which prevented me from telling a single person I was being abused. I truly believed that if anyone knew I was sexually active I would be in trouble, I’d be labelled as a slut, my parents would be angry, his parents would judge me etc…  Looking back I realize that this intense shame was a side effect of being sexually abused and having my needs ignored and pushed past.  Instead of realizing that what was happening to me made me uncomfortable and thus, was bad, I began to think that I was inherently bad.   I believe this was also related to the messages I was getting during the sexual abuse, the mental abuse and gaslighting.

The first step is leaving the abusive situation.  But for readers who have not been abused, it’s important to realize that the survivor often takes the mental abuse with them because it has been deeply internalized.

If I need to hear over and over and over “You are not crazy,” please say it to me.

If I tell you that I feel crazy, bad, damaged and unworthy, please reassure me.

If it seems like I don’t believe your reassurance, I probably don’t, but I still need to hear it.

I don’t need you to fix me.  I need you to validate and believe me.  I need to hear consistent and safe messages and I need your patience.  I survived years of gaslighting and it may take years to undo the damage.

I’m not giving up when I say “I feel crazy.”  I’m terrified.  Truly scared that it might be true.  Even though you see me as a functioning adult individual, working, parenting, taking care of my life, a few small triggers can bring up all the feelings of the mental abuse.

I’m not saying these things to be dramatic or to get attention.  I’m looking for evidence to contradict the self doubt that years of gaslighting created in me.

The biggest gaslighting related trigger for me is not being believed or feeling like I am not believed, or even might not be believed.  Because gaslighting is designed to create self doubt and feelings of being crazy, when I feel others don’t believe my real experiences I can begin to question myself all over again.  What if I really am crazy?

Systemic and institutional abuse can be a form of gaslighting as well.  When a woman comes forward to tell her story and she is not believed, she may begin to doubt herself.  Systems are full of contradictions, double binds and no win situations.  In this way, they also create an atmosphere that is retraumatizing and crazy making.   The very systems an abused person may need to turn to in order to escape the abuse are likely to perpetuate more confusion, frustration and contradiction.

I’ve had gaslighting experiences within the psychiatric system, the health care system, the legal system, while working with the police and interacting with child protection services.  That’s a long list.

Break the cycle of abuse.  It’s just as easy as these few words:

“I believe you.  It’s not your fault.  I’m so sorry this happened to you. You are not alone and you are not crazy, you are having normal coping reactions to surviving abuse”

Repeat as often as possible, whenever self doubt arises.

It’s cheaper than psychiatric meds and has only positive side effects.