"Letting go"

I've lost count of how many times I told someone about my issues only to be met with some variant of "just let go of the past". Every time it was meant to be encouraging and supportive, I'm sure, but to me it never failed to feel like a shut down. Like a 'stop whining about it, just let it go'

I started questioning myself; everyone said it like it's so easy,so why can't I do it? Why can't I let go of it? Stop thinking about it? Stop being reminded of it at every turn? Why was it that I was the only one being told that, never other people who were talking about stuff bothering them? I found hundreds of accusations to throw at myself, self-hatred coming to boil at never finding a solution, at not being able to stop when so many people didn't think it was a big deal to. It sounded like they thought I was just being dramatic, overreacting, overthinking, like it was my fault for feeling the way I do, and I believed them.

Today it happened again; "you can't start the next chapter in life if you keep re-reading the last one". Upset, I googled, "PTSD letting go", and clicked the first result

"For many of us with PTSD, we may be questioned why we just can't "let go" of the past and move forward and live in the present. Such a concept to "let go" and be free of the past would be wonderful... if only it were that simple.

One of the components of PTSD that is misunderstood is this very concept of "letting go." The practicality or logic of "letting go" is not a factor of recovery for PTSD and never has been. If it were that simple, the diagnosis of PTSD would not exist."

The blame I had placed upon myself dissipated with every word I read. I am not at fault for feeling the way I do, and neither is anyone else with PTSD, which is exactly why I'm making this post. I know I'm not the only person who ever felt this way, so I'm going to try to rid you of it the same way that article did for me.

Don't let anyone- including yourself!- make you feel guilty for being unable to stop thinking about your past, for being affected by it, for it always being there, for talking about it, for anything.

Things others might've said or that you might've thought; that you're oversensitive or weak, overreacting, dramatic, or countless other things; they are not true.

It's like telling someone who fell down the stairs to let go of the past, as if that'll heal the broken bone they got as a result. It just doesn't work like that, and that is not your fault.

So remember; your feelings and experiences are valid, don't let anyone make you think otherwise.

(And whenever you need some help remembering that: I am here for you )