A system story

Mental health

Trigger warning: PTSD and talk about triggers

Hi everyone hope you're doing alright. I'm Harry and I'm a member of The Quartz System. I really wanted to talk about mental illnesses and their impact on relationships within a system. I know this is quite a serious topic so I wanted to start on a light note.
We told our friend who we'll call B about us yesterday and she was super great and we all love her! She reacted so well and she's just awesome!

So we don't have lots of mental illnesses but we'll try our to explain. First of all there's something called exotrauma.
Here's a definition:
Exotrauma refers to trauma which did not occur to the physical body, and describe experiences which impacted a system member without equating them to physical current-life trauma.

So multiple of us have exotrauma so it happened but not to the body. This trauma has lead to PTSD and other trauma disorders like DID and OSDD.

PTSD:
A certain member of our system has PTSD they would like to remain unnamed. This means that they have:
- flashbacks.
- nightmares.
- repetitive and distressing images or sensations.
- physical sensations, such as pain, sweating, feeling sick or trembling.
It's a horrible thing to have to go through and they have flashbacks almost daily. An important thing to note is that the body does not have PTSD.

Hi it's Katie now and I wanted to focus on the impact mental illness has on relationships. When dating someone with PTSD you need to be prepared for any flashbacks or memories to resurface. You should be aware of their triggers, to try and minimise flashbacks also make sure that that person isn't fronting if they may get triggered. It can make relationships tricky but you just have to always be there for them.

Signed,
The Quartz System