I’m tired of the PTSD myths and bullsh*t narratives surrounding them.
I have PTSD, and the way people talk about trauma responses made me feel ashamed for years.
So, can we just be honest about some things?
Here are some PTSD myths we need to dispel:
PTSD Myth #1: “Only soldiers get PTSD”
First off, can we stop acting like PTSD only happens to people who’ve been to war?
I’ve had people literally question whether what I have is “real” PTSD because I’ve never served in the Armed forces.
My trauma happened on a sofa in my childhood home, not a battlefield, and it has still massively affected my life.
Sexual assault, childhood abuse, domestic violence, car accidents, and medical trauma can all cause PTSD. Your trauma doesn’t need to be from the war to be valid, and the fact that this is still one of the biggest PTSD myths boggles my mind.
PTSD Myth #2: “Flight or flight is the only trauma response”
This one really grinds my gears because it kept me from understanding my own responses for ages.
Everyone bangs on about fight or flight, but there are actually four main trauma responses: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn.
Freeze is when you just… can’t move. Can’t speak. Your body literally shuts down to protect itself from danger.
It’s not weakness, it’s not consent, it’s a biological response.
Fawn is people-pleasing on steroids. It’s when you try to appease the threat to stay safe. After my trauma, I found myself being overly accommodating, struggling to say no, and trying to keep everyone happy to avoid conflict. I didn’t even realise this was a trauma response until nearly 20 years later, when I did trauma-informed training.
These things don’t get talked about enough.
PTSD Myth #3: “PTSD is just flashbacks”
Flashbacks aren’t always these dramatic movie moments where you’re suddenly transported back in time. Sometimes it’s a smell that makes your stomach drop. Sometimes it’s a phrase someone uses that makes your skin crawl. Sometimes it’s just a creeping sense of danger that you can’t shake.
And the symptoms? They’re all over the place. Everyone talks about nightmares and hypervigilance, but what about the weird ones?
Derealisation was massive for me. That feeling like nothing is quite real, like you’re watching your life through a screen. I’d be having a conversation and suddenly feel like I wasn’t really there. It was terrifying, and I had no idea it was connected to my PTSD.
And hypersexuality. God, the shame around this one. Nobody tells you that sometimes trauma makes you hypersexual. People expect you to be afraid of intimacy (and sometimes that’s true, too), but sometimes your brain does the opposite. I felt so alone with this until I saw it portrayed in the Netflix show ‘Baby Reindeer’.
PTSD Myth #4: “PTSD means you’re always triggered”
Another PTSD myth is that you’re expected to be constantly afraid, but it’s more complicated than that. I can be angry, numb, shut off. I could be laughing with friends, and then I’m in the toilets having a panic attack, and I don’t even know what triggered it.
PTSD isn’t a constant state of terror. Life after trauma is unpredictable, and that’s almost worse.
PTSD Myth #5: “PTSD means you’re damaged for life”
This PTSD myth is the one that hurts the most. People look at you differently when they know. Like you’re fragile or that you’re broken beyond repair.
Yes, I have PTSD. Yes, it’s changed me. But I’m not ruined. I’m not a tragedy. I’m a person who’s been through something horrific and is still here, still trying my best.
Some days are hard. Really hard. But some days are good.
Healing isn’t linear, and it doesn’t mean going back to who you were before. It means learning to live with what happened and building something new.
Why this matters
These PTSD myths don’t just spread misinformation. They make people like me feel isolated and make us question our own experiences.
They make us ashamed of responses that are completely normal reactions to abnormal situations.
If you have PTSD, your experience is valid. However it looks, however it manifests, whatever your trauma responses are, you’re not doing it wrong. You’re surviving.
And that’s enough.
Which PTSD myths are you sick of hearing?
