RE: PTSD / boundaries / space

August 22, 2002

> 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

dee said:

> 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.

~denise added:

One check out clerk really helped me (I've been know to ask the person

behind me to BACK UP) -- anyway, she told me to put my basket behind me,

allow the space I needed in front my myself (IOW, I had control over the

space in front of me) and then I had the distance of the basket behind me --

WOW, did that small trick ever help me in keeping people at a comfortable

physical distance!!!

Waiting in line I just can't stand to feel the breath of the person behind

me down my back -- totally un-nerves me now and when I was big so this trick

helped me a lot. PARTICULARLY in France :-) people do get closer than here

but are not nearly as talkative... the buggy helped a lot in the store's

there... or maybe they just didn't talk to me -- seems like they are all so

naturally thin and I was my obese self at that time...

I tend to agree the post any major surgery our bodies and our thoughts can

go into a PTSD sort of thing... different degrees for different people and

I'm sure it strikes everyone a bit differently if at all... but, a very real

side effect for some that shouldn't be taken lightly.

For women, the hormone's going nuts on top of the trauma might make it

appear more intense as well.

hugz,

~denise

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