Overcoming trauma can take weeks, months, and sometimes years depending on the situation. There are more than a thousand unanswered questions when it comes to dealing with PTSD.

I wouldn’t say I’ve gone through the worst possible situation myself. But, I do try to relate to situations and possibly attempt to understand a person, who is going through something. Incidents happen, let it be just a friend’s betrayal or an unexpected brutal incident, having the mental strength is not necessary. It is good to be strong, but it’s okay if you aren’t or maybe, don’t want to show it to everyone that you can be weak too.

It has come to my attention that PTSD can also be advantageous. Especially during the pandemic, when those people who suffered in life can observe what others are going through. The whole world is going through the same trauma, that is, surviving through the Coronavirus situation. Our miseries are similar right now: the ones who suffered from PTSD in the past feel relatable. It is amazing how I see my overly protective mother, go and do things before itself, instead of waiting for the situation to come. I couldn’t believe I took this much time to notice what a wonderful job she is doing.

Every time she was worried about me being hurt, or me not able to handle life altogether, I took it for granted. She was one of those women who got married at a young age, only to be involved in a chaotic mess of holding a family together.

The rest of the family does our best to hold her calm, support her, and hopefully help go through things every time. However, I must admit we too found it silly at times to over-do stuff like checking the door lock again, even though it is clearly locked or just dusting again on the festival day despite dusting just the day before. I complained and I got irritated, I rubbed it off as “A mother will be a mother always.” But, not anymore.

Finding my neighbors being quarantined, relatives affected by the coronavirus, made me rethink from a broader perspective. I don’t think I would be sitting here safely in between red zoned areas if my mother was not panicking or not over-cleaning. She doesn’t let me or my brother go out, just in case we unconsciously be careless and mess up things. She doesn’t let people come in, no matter how good neighbors they have been. At first, it looked a bit too much, but now I feel safer than ever staying right in my home.

Also, let’s not forget that every person who gets panic attacks, are sensitive or feel anxious for small things, are all doing very good during these times. They understand what normal people are going through right now.

It is incredible. I found myself talking to people who had childhood trauma, domestic violence, or body-shammed. Those people who have been struggling to get out of the state of feeling low, self-conscious, or having trust issues; those who are scarred for life are strong survivors. I can’t stress this enough, but every one of them is an amazingly tough person who went through a lot more than I possibly could ever handle.

It is most likely that it will take many more months, even after the pandemic, to get over our loss- financially, physically, or mentally. For those who survive through this, by not being infected or by recovery after being tested positive, it will still be an incident which did have an impact on all of us. Now, the whole world knows what it feels like inside the head of a person going through PTSD. It is time we appreciate their help and inputs on overcoming our vulnerabilities.  

I want to add that, maybe not everyone with PTSD is doing excellent. This perspective just makes me wonder if those who are struggling to get through these times have tried to take advantage of their weakness. It might be of some help to reach out to others and find out how they are doing. The feeling of belongingness makes a lot of difference.

“When we feel weak, we drop our heads on the shoulders of others. Don’t get mad when someone does that. Be honored. For that person trusted you enough to, even if subtly, ask you for help.” –Lori Goodwin