“Trigger Warning! – 5 Signs of High-Functioning PTSD”
Perfection as a protective barrier. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD for short, is the long and painful shadow that trauma and tragedy can cast. Abuse, accidents, disasters, or long-lasting toxic relationships can precede this heavy psychological burden. Ideally, everyone finds a way to cope sooner or later. Provided that therapeutic measures are taken, leaving this shadow behind and starting a new life can certainly be successful. Some people develop a very special form called high-functioning post-traumatic stress disorder. Unfortunately, the name says it all: at some point, those affected learn that the best way to bring their pain under control is to spur themselves on to peak performance. These can be of a professional, sporting or general nature. We would like to introduce you to the five most common symptoms in this article.
1. Being better, faster, more successful.
It's hard to believe, but behind the mask of many extremely success-oriented people hides an abused child or a deeply traumatized personality. At some point, these victims have realized that ambition and consistent striving for success and recognition are quite acceptable ways of compensating for their pain. They kill several birds with one stone with this tactic, whether consciously or unconsciously. For one thing, their relentless plan for success does an excellent job of distracting them from their suffering on most days. They direct all their focus on their goals to keep their fears, memories, and all the negative feelings at bay that inevitably keep pushing to the surface in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. On the other hand, this is how they manage to balance their feelings of inferiority and also the question of guilt. High-functioning victims of PTSD practically self-medicate themselves by driving their self-esteem to unimagined heights in order to provide a ray of hope for the inner child who is still suffering. They stage for themselves the perfect distraction from the burgeoning memories and emotional outbursts. Self-discipline and the sheer will to survive then become their loudest traits. They simply do not allow the trauma to gain more power over them than absolutely necessary. Of course, these people also have better or worse days. But they determine themselves how much they are influenced by it in their actions. Relentlessly, they declare getting up early in the morning, for example, to be the first step on their way through the day, which is non-negotiable. In this way, they challenge their trauma every day to a battle of good versus evil. Good usually wins, although the price is a very high one. Moreover, not all sufferers of PTSD muster this iron willpower and fighting spirit.
2. Reliving events from the past is suppressed.
High-functioning personalities hold all the threads of their existence in their hands whenever possible. Memories, especially bad ones, are powerful opponents when it comes to feigning a perfect facade, even to oneself. A strictly paced daily routine, divided into small, easily manageable doses of work and leisure, helps these people enormously. Those who are constantly in dialogue with the world hardly have time to fall prey to the gloomy thoughts that keep emerging from the recesses of their minds. The price that this thought control brings with it is a life under constant pressure to be in company. High-functioning victims of post-traumatic stress disorder are rarely or never alone in a room with themselves and their memories. They seek distraction and need it as badly as they need oxygen.
3. Nervousness and irritability.
All sufferers who struggle with the aftermath of post-traumatic stress disorder tend to be emotionally unstable. On the one hand, they are always on guard for impending danger; on the other, an unbridled rage boils inside most of them, and some are better, some worse at keeping it under control. The victims, of course, have every right to be angry at things that have happened to them in the past. Nervousness, in their case, is a kind of alarm system that keeps them constantly on the lookout for potential threats. Dealing with these people is anything but easy. Of course, very few of them hang their life details out for all to see. The emotional roller coaster that you sometimes have to experience at their side is hard to bear in the long run and not self-explanatory either.
4. Tendency to withdraw when the memory becomes overwhelming.
When even iron discipline and the highest demands on one's own ego are no longer enough to put the demons of the past in their place, many victims of post-traumatic stress disorder temporarily go into retreat. Some suffer from depressive episodes that drag them deep down into the dark echoes of their experiences. The memories overwhelm them and hold them tightly for a time. There is usually no escape from this stranglehold without professional help. These troughs, however, tend to be the exceptions for high-functioning people. Most of them recognize the signs in time and take countermeasures or even step it up a gear on their already demanding course. After all, standing still means falling off.
5. Not letting themselves stand still.
The wheel turns faster and faster for high-functioning victims of post-traumatic stress disorder. As with any other kick, doses must be constantly increased and the intervals between doses shortened more and more. Unfortunately, in addition to the greed for success and validation, the classic coping mechanisms such as alcohol, medication, drugs or adrenaline kicks often follow as the ultimate distraction. Negative thoughts and bad memories are brutal companions that never miss an opportunity to jump out and surprise them. Most victims of post-traumatic stress disorder also suffer from sleep disorders for life for this reason. This dance over hot coals may work well for a while. Most survivors of abuse, disasters or other traumatic experiences are glad for any relief they may experience. Having to live a life in the fast lane until the end of their lives seems a small price to pay for most. Every moment in which their soul can find peace and their consciousness does not resurrect the horrible images of the past is a precious gift to them. Anyone who doesn't know her personal history will have a hard time working alongside her, whether professionally or personally. Few people understand this compulsion for perfection and the personal pressure to perform without rest. Some may even wonder, pale with envy, what the secret of these people's success is.
Today’s Conclusion:
When trauma becomes the drive. Not everyone is able to turn bad experiences into a booster for personal development. For some, the daily battle against striking memories is simply too burdensome. Every person functions differently. In the face of survived trauma, this is even more true. Some prominent figures thankfully made their ordeal and how they dealt with it public. The writer Thomas Bernhard, for example, was said to have saved his life by writing furiously and excessively. Superstars like Oprah Winfrey or Lady Gaga report similar things about their gloomy motivation. For trauma victims, survival is often the only goal, even if it doesn't always seem desirable to them.