Is Anybody Listening? (Contains possibly triggering content. Read at your own risk).

We're staying home for a while before it's back out for more errands. We also need some time to sit and get our thoughts out.

How are your symptoms these days? Does anyone take you seriously if you talk about trauma or anything connected to that?

We've spent all week fighting different parts of the bureaucracy. Everywhere we turn, it feels like nobody wants to listen to us.

We're not 60+.
We're not a vet.
Which means that if you don't a nice neat catagory, "experts" in various govt. and social service agencies suddenly become clueless on how to deal with "disabilities".

Here in the States, it's legal to discriminate against a job applicant with PTSD. If you try to get help, some people want nothing to do with you. Because of something that's not your fault.

If you try to get social service help and do, 99% of it is only one time. How then do you cover other things like food, having a phone number, a car and other neccessities?

Do people listen to you? Or, do they just blow you off because you're their worst nightmare?

Does anyone pay attention as you battle symptoms and try to deal with everything else?

Do you hear the rubbish "weakness isn't tolerated" in your area?

Much of the time we get the feeling that others want nothing to do with us. We didn't ask to be raped and have all of this pain and humiliation in trying to survive and get help. But also it's ok to just blow us off or say completely idiotic and insulting things?

Talk to ten people on the street and meintion PTSD to them. Odds are almost all 10 will instantly think of vets. Now, tell them that civilians have PTSD too. Many want to hide or for you to just go away.

30% of the Stateside public has some form of PTSD. Is this every mentioned on the corporate MSM? No. However, Time Magazine will do a story called "Do the Taliban have PTSD"?

How f****d up is this picture?

How do you make yourself heard? Lately, we've picked up a lot of Israeli readers. How do you cope with daily trauma? Pick a country: Russia, Argentina and other places with lots of traumatic stuff. What helps you to cope with death squads, corrupt governments and various other things?

Here, for much of the population it's out-of-sight-out-of-mind. As long as it doesn't affect me directly, I could care less. If that's not true, then why has the same s**t been going on for so long?

It's because not all but many of the "big names" who say they're trying to bring about actual change aren't. Instead, it's write another pointless book. Go on a lecture tour. Put out yet another documentary DVD that tells us "the inside story of ____".

No it doesn't. It's just one person getting rich off of mass misery and apathy. It's not my problem. Blame the f*****g politicians.

Meanwhile, nothing changes.

We're not a celebrity. If we go public, would anybody pay attention?