Just for the record, I don't intend this to become a blog about the ups and downs of life with a "different" child. So many people do this so much better than I ever could. They can find the right words where I fall short. But I did come across a post on one of these other blogs today that I really have to share because it is so on point.
In yesterday's post, I questioned, almost offhandedly, whether parents and caregivers of children with physical or behavioral difficulties ever develop PTSD-like symptoms.
Today, I came across a great answer to that question, completely out of the blue. In this post, a blogger who identifies herself as MOM-Not Otherwise Specified (or MOM-NOS), the mother of a son on the autism spectrum, shared her belief that it is actually more common than you might think, that it is even (in her words) "the reasonable response of a reasonable person who had been living with unreasonable demands without reasonable support for an unreasonable length of time." Commenters went on to add that in some cases, it should be called "OTSD", for Ongoing Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Wow.
So offer a hand (or a shoulder, or an ear) to the caregivers in your life. They may be closer to the edge than you think, and it could make all the difference in the world.
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I found your blog through Christy's and I look forward to reading your writing.
ReplyDeleteThe long-term effects of caring for a child with disabilities are profound -- I've been doing so for nearly eighteen years which astounds me, regularly. How did I do it? How do I do it?
Elizabeth: Thank you so much for your comment! Eighteen years is a very long time and I sincerely hope that you have a good support system and are able to get some time for yourself as well. At least for me, those are essential and have been my salvation.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for how you managed for all those years: was it because you had to, and found yourself strong and resilient and loving enough to do it when push came to shove? Maybe you were able to take things a day at a time and not think in terms of the years? I can't guess, but I can admire. Wishing you continued grace...