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A Few Steps Forward, A Few More Back

Misty Rae
5 min readMay 8, 2025

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Photo by Susan Wilkinson on Unsplash

When we think of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), images of our brave military personnel come to mind, reliving the unimaginable horrors of war. And right after that image, may come those of people who have suffered a terrible tragedy, a bad car wreck, a large-scale natural disaster, or a horrific crime.

What doesn’t come to mind is a seemingly average middle-aged woman from small-town Canada who has never served in the armed forces or been involved in a high-profile disaster.

Yet here we are.

Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD)as defined on the Cleveland Clinic’s website, as

… a mental health condition that can develop if you experience chronic (long-term) trauma. It involves stress responses, such as:

Anxiety.

Having flashbacks or nightmares.

Avoiding situations, places and other things related to the traumatic event.

Heightened emotional responses, such as impulsivity or aggressiveness.

Persistent…

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Read or Die!
Read or Die!

Published in Read or Die!

A home for people who want to give back to the community: write and read.

Misty Rae
Misty Rae

Written by Misty Rae

6X Top Writer. Former legal eagle. Wife, mother, nature lover, chef, writer and all-around free spirit . https://ko-fi.com/mistyrae