Member-only story
Caregiver PTSD is Real
Someone you love so much is dying before your eyes and you’re powerless to do anything about it. You feel guilty that you are spared. Life without this person feels unimaginable — but it’s coming. Then it happens, they are gone. Now the silence. So painfully silent.
There were all the emergencies along the way. The ambulances. The air lifts. Hospitals. Doctors. The falls. The seizures. Hospice. Watching your person just fade away in front of you. You should feel relieved that it’s over. But you keep wondering when another emergency is coming. Because you’ve been reminded of how shit happens.
Every loud noise. Every time someone shouts. A siren. An alarm. All reminders of the terror each incident brought. They seemingly came out of nowhere, without warning. Like an irrational bully sucking the life out of someone. Even now it makes you jump and remember.
So yes — caregiver PTSD is real.
