PTSD

[Guest guest]

Judy said:

> other things as well. When we were morbidly obese,

> our girth defined our personal space and effectively

> kept people at a comfortable distance. With the loss

> of that girth, we go through a transition of

> redefining our space and our comfort zone

I heartily agree! I went thru about 6 months of having a really REALLY hard

time interacting, and still have problems at times in crowds. I had written

it off to my abuse history - but this personal space issue has been a biggie

for me.

It is something I'm particularly aware of as I get ready to go to Europe - a

couple of people have mentioned to me that when waiting in line there tends

to be much closer contact than here.

Part of how I cope in crowds is to try to eek out a space where I have at

least my back not crowded. I sit in corners, stand against a wall, etc.

Then I can at least see who is coming at me, and sometimes I even swing an

empty chair around (so no one can sit in it) to put down a glass, my purse -

use it as a table, but also as a shield.

I also found I needed to wear different clothes - I was giddy at first with

my improved features, but found that I couldn't wear low cut blouses, or

things I felt " sexy " in at first. I wore sweaters, blazers, layers of

clothes to make up for the layers I lost. I had to take it in stages, if

that makes sense. First deal with being in crowds where I felt vulnerable,

deal with the personal space issues, deal with the fact that now men looked

at me with something other than disgust. That took some time. THEN I could

deal with wearing stuff I felt " sexy " in.

Goes to that whole issue of " asking " to be raped, I think. Sigh.

So, for me, I knew it was pretty complicated, but I think lots and lots of

people have depended on their fat to act as a layer of protection. And when

it goes - so fast, it takes some time to adjust.

dee

[Guest guest]

So what *are* the symptoms of PTSD? I've seen plenty of WLS folks

talking about post-op symptoms of depression, sleeplessness,

frustration, lack of control, fighting with reality (head hunger,

body image), etc., etc., and these all seem perfectly normal. (That

is, they happen a lot.) Are these the kinds of symtoms referred to,

maybe? In that case, I wouldn't be surprised if it *is* common. That

still wouldn't mean the surgery is " bad, " at least not to me. I knew

there were risks of both complications and frustrations going into

this.