2023 has been the year of PTSD, anxiety and therapy for me. In 2022, I was viciously assaulted by someone in my family who then began to stalk and harass me. There have been many other illegal and horrific things this person and her family members have done, but all of that is for the detective to sort out. All I could do is control how I reacted to it all, and that is where therapy came in and saved my life.

After the assault, and the other sociopathic things this person has done, I started seeing a therapist. My therapist diagnosed me with PTSD and anxiety, and I sobbed for a few days. I am not exactly sure why it hurt me so much, but it did. Not out of shame, but out of disbelief and concern for myself. I knew something was wrong because I would have nightmares about the attack, heart palpitations and feel anxious all the time, but did not think it was at all related to PTSD. I was not that knowledgeable about PTSD and felt it was only something that happened to victims of war, incarceration, and major crimes.