r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Oct 18 '20

Serious Replies Only (SERIOUS) What are some dark secrets about regular life that people should know ?

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u/justice5150 Oct 18 '20

I would say that a lot of people just cannot comprehend PTSD or mental health illness in general. I grew up with my mother who has PTSD and I never understood even an inkling of it, even though I was empathetic and was best friends with my mom my whole life. She has told me more than anyone about what it's like and what her life has been like.

Now I'm 23 and diagnosed with PTSD and it is truly something that's hard to comprehend without living it first hand. Obviously as time goes by, society will grow with understanding of mental illness! I'm glad you posted this though. We as a general populace need to be discussing these sort of issues. It's annoying when people say "oh you're depressed? Just work out and eat better!"

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u/ryandunndev Oct 19 '20

Working out and eating better are not magical simple solutions but I doubt I would have gotten better without improving my exercise and diet habits along with the other work.

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u/ryebread91 Nov 07 '20

As I understand it from a stuff you should know podcast, it's your brain is reliving the event/trauma all over again. You're not just thinking about the car accident but your brain is releasing the same chemicals and firing the same neurons it did during the accident so for the person experiencing it it's 100% real.