PTSD doesn’t only happen to soldiers. It happens to women who survived things they were never supposed to survive. Abuse. Assault. Accidents. Loss. Medical trauma. The kind of experiences that quietly reshape your nervous system and change how you move through the world.
I have lived with PTSD for over 40 years. Complex PTSD — which means the trauma wasn’t a single event but a series of experiences that accumulated over time, each one leaving its mark.
For a long time I kept this part of my story hidden. Not because it wasn’t real, but because I didn’t have the language for it, and I wasn’t sure anyone would understand.
This section exists because I know I’m not the only one carrying this. If you found your way here, something brought you. And whatever that something is — you are in a space where your experience will be met with honesty, not judgment.
You will find my personal stories here alongside practical tools and resources. Not a clinical overview. Not a checklist of symptoms. Just one person who has been in it, sharing what has helped and what has not.
CONTENT RELATED TO
POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Shattered Hearts: How Miscarriage, PTSD, and Postpartum Depression Intertwine
Trigger Warning: A Note to the Reader This article touches on the deeply emotional topics of miscarriage, postpartum depression, and the weight of sorrow that can sometimes feel too much to bear. If your heart is not ready or if these reflections stir pain within,...
30 PTSD Self-Care Tips
Here are 27 PTSD self-care tips to help you deal with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or even everyday stress. You certainly do not have to have post-traumatic stress disorder to see benefits from these. I built this toolbox of strategies and techniques that I...
My PTSD Story #3 – I Was Stalked by a Rapist
TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL VIOLENCE/RAPE Today, I am sharing my third PTSD story in a series about the trauma I have gone through, which led to my diagnosis of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. During the summer of 1983, I woke to the rattling of my bedroom window....
Possible Causes of PTSD, Besides Combat
There are many possible causes of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). The term PTSD is one I had long associated with soldiers returning from war. Shell-shock. Battle Fatigue. Combat Fatigue. Those were terms I had seen in movies. For years, I was living with the...
My PTSD Story #2 – Trapped at Home with a Burglar
Trigger warning. This is my second of my PTSD stories – the trauma related events that led to me living with complex post traumatic disorder. My childhood home’s basement had just one exit. A long set of stairs on the south side of the house. At the top of the stairs,...
Living With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder From Someone With PTSD (with Infographic)
Living with post-traumatic stress disorder can be so tough. Many people associate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with combat soldiers. But there are many sufferers of PTSD that were never in the military, and I am one of them. Any traumatic event can result in...
My PTSD Story #1 – I Was Terrorized by A Masked Man and Nearly Kidnapped
Trigger warning: mentions of violence towards a child. This is just one of my PTSD stories - the trauma related events that led to me living with complex post traumatic disorder. You may be wondering what place it has on a blog dedicated to happiness. I am including...
My Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Story
Have I shared with you the story of my journey with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD ? Perhaps not. For many years, I kept this part of myself hidden—locked away from others, and even from my own heart. This, my dear reader, is the first time I am speaking of it...
Articles Related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Shattered Hearts: How Miscarriage, PTSD, and Postpartum Depression Intertwine
- 30 PTSD Self-Care Tips
- My PTSD Story #3 – I Was Stalked by a Rapist
- Possible Causes of PTSD, Besides Combat
- My PTSD Story #2 – Trapped at Home with a Burglar
- Living With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder From Someone With PTSD (with Infographic)
- My PTSD Story #1 – I Was Terrorized by A Masked Man and Nearly Kidnapped
- My Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Story
Meet Leisa Watkins
Leisa is a chronic illness writer and advocate living with MS, fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, and CFS/ME, and a mom navigating her kids' chronic illness journeys alongside her own.
She writes from lived experience and years of research, sharing practical strategies and compassionate guidance for women building a full life alongside chronic illness.
Not a medical professional. Please consult your healthcare provider for medical advice.
About Cultivate an Exceptional Life
Cultivate an Exceptional Life is a chronic illness community for women who are done waiting for their hard season to be over before they start really living.
Here you'll find honest stories, practical tools, and hard-won wisdom for building a life you love — alongside your illness, not in spite of waiting for it to get better.
Because an exceptional life doesn't just happen. It has to be cultivated.