moonvoice (ravenari)

It's very angry-making, and I've held my tongue about it (mostly) since 1998. The people who did it the most I've simply unfriended, because I literally just can't handle seeing them write about something they mostly have no idea about on my reading list. Nightmares suck, it is true - wouldn't wish them on anyone, but nightmares =/= PTSD. Even flashbacks don't equal PTSD.

I got diagnosed because I thought I was going insane. It's pretty much that simple for me. I didn't know what flashbacks were, but I was almost certain they were 'hey you're going to live the rest of your life in an institution.' So... yeah. Ironically, for the first three years of having an official diagnosis, I didn't believe I had it, I didn't tell anyone. It's not something I wanted to broadcast. There's a horrible amount of shame and stigma to deal with in general; without dealing with misconceptions caused by the media, and certainly without dealing with misconceptions caused by people who use us for the disorders we live with. :/