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Ptsd coupled with religious trauma

User Profile: shyRaspberries2141
shyRaspberries2141 April 21st, 2021

I have severe ptsd due to putting up with physical and sexual abuse as a kid for about 2 years. Its been 20 years since then but my body never forgets a single instance of pain. Between then and now there have been many repeated offenses of harassment to unsolicited sexual advances. Between that and growing up religious I have a lot of deficits in the safety department. Recently I just discovered a side effect of religious trauma was the feeling of always being watched. It causes me to feel unsafe no matter how many times I check the locks on everything. I even have furniture and easily movable objects in front of all the windows and doors so I can attempt to sleep at night, while my husband is away for a month on business. I've never been afraid of the dark or being alone before but I do have a child now and it's easier to watch her sleep than sleep afraid someone knows he's gone and I'll have to fight for my life and hers while sluggish from sleep.

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User Profile: amiableBlackberry92
amiableBlackberry92 April 21st, 2021

Dear shy, I'm so sorry for the awful experiences you had to deal with, I feel your pain. I understand those soft boundaries, I have alot of issues with that from severe childhood abuse among other things that have happened more recently... Sleep is so important to feel well and to cope. I had a couple years when I rarely slept. I got an alarm system which helps. I thought about getting a big loud dog but I'm in such rough emotional shape I don't trust myself to be able to care for one properly. So alarm seemed easier and there's so many affordable choices out there now a days. I hope this helps you in some way, ABB

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User Profile: shyRaspberries2141
shyRaspberries2141 OP April 23rd, 2021

Yeah no dog for me either, I got a cat I've elected my husband to take care of since litter is dangerous to pregnant women and it's continued due to all my work with the baby and severe postpartum depression. The baby is honestly all I can manage, but currently I've been able to keep up with the cat as well. I live in an apartment so as far as I know the most i can do is a doorbell camera. During the day I'm fine just night there's an irrational sense of dread like everything suddenly unlocks at night. It's so weird

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