A couple of years ago I survived a severe accident, and even though I’m technically “doing better,” I don’t think people around me fully understand how much it still affects me mentally.
I lost and damaged a lot of my teeth, went through painful dental work, scars, changes in my face and bite, and ever since then my body feels like it’s constantly holding onto fear. Some days I function normally, laugh, study, talk to people — and then suddenly something small triggers me. Pain at night, medical appointments, mirrors, certain memories, even random sounds can send me into panic or sadness.
I think I might be dealing with PTSD, or at least trauma that I never properly processed.
The hardest part is that recovery looks “finished” from the outside, so people assume you should move on. But mentally it doesn’t work like that. Sometimes I still feel stuck in survival mode. Sometimes I feel guilty for not being “strong enough” after all this time.
Today has been especially hard emotionally, and I guess I just wanted to ask:
Has anyone else here gone through a traumatic accident or major physical changes and struggled long after it happened?
How do you cope with the fear, anxiety, body image changes, or the feeling that your nervous system never fully relaxed afterward?
I’d really appreciate hearing from people who genuinely understand this kind of trauma. I think I just don’t want to feel alone with it tonight.