THE PTSD WORKBOOK 2nd ED.: MODULE 5

Coping with Trauma with Less Avoidance and Denial

“It is not unusual to want to avoid remembering or reexperiencing the traumatic event(s) that happened to you. Why on earth would you want to put yourself through it all again? Why would you want to desensitize yourself (learn to deal with all your triggers, thoughts, memories)?… 

If you refer back to the description of PTSD found in chapter 1 of this workbook, you will see the list of avoidance-related behaviors and traits listed under the third criterion of the diagnosis. Which of them do you use to survive? Do you avoid places, people, or situations that remind you of your trauma? Do you isolate yourself from others? Do you try to keep your emotions under control to the degree that you don’t let yourself feel? Have you lost interest in social activities or intimacy? Do you depend on the use of substances or addictive behaviors to numb yourself? Have you desexualized yourself? Do you instantaneously suppress things that in any way remind you of your traumatic experiences or of the feelings that you had during or after them?”