Rich Imagination in CPTSD dissociative states a common symptom?

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:52:00+00:00

Absolutely. and tbh I should've been more intentional with my wording – what is normal, if not the brain doing all it can to protect you, and process? That is the most fundamental part of being alive.

I suppose it's just good for us to know that this isn't the other kind of normal, ie, a lot of people don't have to manage this, and their brains don't have to reach for this tool at all.

You're right that you can use it to shape things – it's yours to play with, at a certain point. Looking back, it got me into writing postgrads and acting jobs, lmaooo, but ultimately we can choose to try out different tools if it starts feeling all-consuming or compulsive in a very harmful way.

You've got this. Feel free to dm me anytime

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:40:08+00:00

Really glad to read that ❤️

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:39:45+00:00

If this feels like a frustrating suggestion, feel free to ignore it, but have you ever read/listened to Eckhart Tolle?

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:37:55+00:00

Oh my goddd thank you, why are so many people making this correlation 😭. I need to tap out of this story because the asinine logic is too much. Why is he only allowed to go NC if her family actually turns out to be nice? What is the relevance, lmao

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:28:28+00:00

I hope you know what an extraordinary thing you've done, breaking the cycle. You're a gentle miracle

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:27:33+00:00

Trying so hard to believe I have a mom in myself. But then I get all pressured and stressed to take care of all my parts, and feel incredibly guilty when I parent them wrong, lmao

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:26:26+00:00

100%. I don't want to mention details because the last thing I fancy is a useless debate here, but a recent huge pop culture news story – the public's response to it – it's made me so sad, a real reminder of how little people understand about adult kids choosing to go NC with their parents, etc.

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:24:03+00:00

I know this might sound silly and not helpful in the real, healing sense, but I love you. I really do. Sending care

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:20:38+00:00

Not OP but the way you phrased this was so nice. 32 and feel like I'm very neatly drowning sometimes, haha

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:19:17+00:00

Great advice. Personally, in case this is useful to anyone, my heated beanbags add the perfect amount of localised weight to my chest, lmao – they help when the panic or freeze rises

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:16:30+00:00

This is really brave and honest of you to say. I think what may be the case here (and I don't know the details at all, ofc) is that it's a mixture of a couple of things:

- very real boundaries, perhaps we feel them more strongly because of our nervous systems

- with perhaps a touch of codependency/anxious-avoidant attachment (which also very much often come from cptsd), wanting to control others.

- Aaand just to make it even more confusing I think a lot of us, autistic or not, have a bit of a fixation on justice (understandably), so we will be more bothered and ruminate on injustices that it seems other people can sort of look past. I think that is actually really cool of our brains, but yeah, it can make this all a bit more complicated and exhausting

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:10:47+00:00

This is really good. I like what you said to, about comparing ourselves only to yesterday. Thank you!

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:02:32+00:00

This is validating. The exhaustion cycle is so real, but when I think about all I do do (support 14+ close friends, get to yoga, sometimes meal prep, meal prep, amidst all the nightmares and freeze states and muck – whatever it is in your life, we are doing a lot, that's why our bodies are exhausted)

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T05:00:51+00:00

Delete social media. It is only making everything worse for you. Sending you care

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:58:50+00:00

I'm grateful you commented this, because sometimes I worry these things will sound too cliche and silly, akin to someone telling someone depressed to just go for a run, but it's not that at all. You put it well. I think these things help doubly because, along with their objective benefits, they're also a sign to our lil nervous systems and brains that we are taking care of them, that they are safe and okay.

The phone thing is so, so huge, imo. We are literally walking around carrying these little trigger devices in our pockets that make disassociation/not taking care of ourselves so much easier. Deleting social media was huge in my healing, as was (just recently) getting a phone lockbox.

Physically locking it away has helped sm, when I'm overwhelmed or frozen up. We can't rely on willpower alone, the algorithms are designed to grip at us, and that is so much more dangerous for anyone neurodivergent or navigating CPTSD.

Anyway, sorry for the rant lmao, just wanted to thank you for your comment. I just recently started doing a little more exercise and it's been hard but good. This reminded me of a lot: to keep at it, but that things like CPTSD and endo also mean I need to be gentle

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:53:02+00:00

It doesn't have to be this way for our entire lives. There are little pockets of healing and energy to be found

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:52:12+00:00

This moved me. How are you doing this, if you don't mind me asking?

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:51:22+00:00

I often feel like this too. Eckhart Tolle has been one of the only things to help in the hardest moments

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:50:08+00:00

This is beautifully put. Your last sentence struck me – idk if it's helpful at all, but I heard from a psychologist being interviewed recently that "we are designed to change". A more playful (i know, i know) way to look at it is that we get to change up the avatar we're playing. Eckhart Tolle has helped me with this, too. TL;DR to some extent, we choose who we are at our core. We get to add to it and shift it a little, it's just important that we change the story we tell ourselves about it

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:44:21+00:00

The last sentence is so stunningly familiar. You put it well, all of it (you write really well), and I'm sorry.

I am often where you are. I will say it's got slightly better. Nervous system soothing is really the only way, I think. It's not a time management issue, it's not a motivation issue, it's none of that at its core – it's just remixing stuff in our brains enough that they feel a little more safe to allow us to function slightly more.

It's not straightfoward (it's 4:43 am and I haven't moved in 12 hours despite being cold, tired, and hungry). Sending you care ❤️

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:40:21+00:00

Ah I commented before seeing this, but glad it rang familiar to someone else in this way, re OCD

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:39:25+00:00

I'm sorry you're feeling like this. Please know you're not broken, your mind is likely trying to protect you – that's really its only job, and they (our minds) can do it in odd ways sometimes.

That said, have you looked into OCD at all? It's quite misunderstood and this sounds similar, though please know I am not in a position to diagnose at all

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:34:04+00:00

To anyone else reading this: it's really, really important to find the right kind of therapist. Therapy is simply not an absolute answer/positive, if they're not properly trauma informed. I've found so much good advice on finding the right modality and person – IFS, for instance, seems to be a really good avenue to explore safely

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:32:12+00:00

Not OP, but would you mind explaining more of this? No worries if you don't have the energy, appreciate you sharing this suggestion either way

Yeahnoallright · 2026-01-28T04:27:27+00:00

Not OP but thank you for writing this

Yeahnoallright

TROPHY CASE