Category: Personal
-
Phantom Lover
This morning I was reminded of how Erasure’s Andy Bell truly opened my eyes that night in 1987 when they opened for Duran Duran. I grew up in East Texas, so his flamboyance and unapologetic gayness shocked me. I don’t think I ever had so much respect for anyone as I did for him. I…
-
Emerging Playwright
As you know, I‘m done with writing books; however, this past January during the #WrAP challenge, I wrote two full-length plays. I’ve also just finished a one-act play based on my decade-old, unpublished short story “The Clockwork Heart.” The #WrAP challenge introduced me to London Playwrights, of which now I’m a member, and I’ve already…
-
Well That F*cked Me Up!
Last week I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Luke Colson for his phenomenal podcast “Well That F*cked Me Up!” Luke and his colleague Kyle Wise interview people who have experienced life-changing events. The podcast is full of remarkable stores of survival from severe traumatic events. Give their podcast a listen, if you are…
-
So It Goes.
Last week I saw Robert B. Weide’s incredible documentary Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time. It brought me back to my twenties when I voraciously read 13 Vonnegut books back to back. He is utterly brilliant. When I heard that he had died in 2007, I remember saying, “How is the sun still shining or world…
-
Responsible Community Response
In August 2012, I published a post on my former O. M. Grey blog, “Caught in the Cogs,” that outlines how to respond to an accusation of sexual violence so as not to further traumatize the victim. It contains examples of what to say and what not to say. The things I wrote and experienced…
-
How To Find Authentic Connections With C-PTSD
If you struggle with C-PTSD, then you understand how difficult it can be to let go of the learned behaviors your brain developed to protect you in survival mode. On the road to recovery, many of us seek out genuine relationships but aren’t quite sure how to find success in them. There’s a ton of…
-
Use Radical Acceptance to Help You Cope with C-PTSD
Radical acceptance was probably the most valuable tool in my mental health toolbox while in the worst part of my recovery, and it works still to this day. The point is to accept reality how it is right now rather than hoping things will get better or wishing it was somehow different. Step One: Abandon…
-
If You Could Do Anything…
When living with PTSD, depression, anxiety, or another mental illness/psychiatric injury, it’s important to learn tools to cope with your condition. Over the past decade, I’ve taught myself several. Some I discovered through a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) diary and others I developed myself. There was an eight-year period where I cried virtually every day.…
-
PTSD: Dissociation & Derealization
In the wake of trauma, many people develop PTSD, or in the case of sustained or repeated trauma, it could become Complex PTSD. Those around us (who we need more than ever) will often distance themselves, mostly because they don’t know what to do. People are terrified to step into another’s hell, even for a…
-
This is My Reality Now
CW: mentions of domestic and sexual violence It was 2010. My best friend had just assaulted me. I didn’t understand what had happened and why he wouldn’t stop no matter how many times I had said no and pushed him away. It was a deep betrayal and a traumatic event that affected me deeply. Overcoming…
Christine Rose 