Post Traumatic Stress

This is sixth part of the impact statement that my mom read in court.

Post Traumatic Stress

We as parents were on constant high alert for the first year as we had to provide comfort at times of :

• Nightmares
• Sleepless nights
• Flashbacks
• Triggers e.g. revving engine, erratic driving, group of men approaching, someone approaching her unexpectedly from the back, feeling unsafe seated in a car, guns, full moon, Friday nights, when she isn’t considered or feels scared.

This was exhausting, as one initially never knew when any of the above was going to happen. Because the youngsters spent a lot of time together and initially mostly at our home we found ourselves dealing with two people in crisis simultaneously. I committed to walking closely alongside both Cayly and her boyfriend (now ex) during the first 2 years of their recovery. This had a huge impact on us financially as I sacrificed earnings during this time. We had to downscale drastically and lost much in the process. We made the decision that we could not put a price tag on our daughter’s recovery. I sacrificed much of my time and sleep whilst being a companion to a daughter in distress. On many a night we drank copious cups of tea when sleep eluded her in the early hours.

The next post is, ‘Cayly’s Health Takes a Tumble’
I had also written a post about Post Traumatic Stress a year ago, https://caylysdandeliondays.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/trigger-un-happy/