The Daily Mind Field of PTSD

I wish more people understood what it’s like to be a trauma survivor.

Not just the textbook definition, but the moment-to-moment experience.

The way trauma can turn ordinary life into a psychological minefield, or what I call a mind field.

What does PTSD actually feel like, day to day?

It can mean always being alert, never relaxing.

Not on Sundays. Not at night. Not with people. Not alone.

Many of my patients struggle with sleep. Imagine not sleeping through the night for decades.

They stay busy to avoid what’s underneath, immersing themselves in work, caregiving, relationships, or substances.

It can mean feeling completely disconnected from your body. Spacing out. Dissociating. Always doing: scrolling, eating, working, even having sex, all while feeling nothing. Like you’re alive, but not really living.

It can mean such low self-worth that even small acts of care feel monumental. Picking clothes off the floor. Cleaning your apartment. Asking for a raise. Saying no. Going on a date. It all feels too risky, too vulnerable, too much.

It can mean never having a romantic relationship or getting into relationships that seem great at first but later turn toxic or dangerous.

You may struggle to leave, even when things become unbearable. You might stay, not because you don’t know better, but because trauma taught you to freeze, fawn, or doubt yourself.

It can mean reacting in ways you can’t control.

Shutting down. People-pleasing. Lashing out. Fleeing. Freezing.

Losing your voice. Forgetting how to protect yourself.

Not knowing how to be angry in a way that feels safe. 

It can mean feeling too much or nothing at all.

Thinking constantly, and feeling numb or anxious all the time.

Avoiding emotions at all costs, sometimes to the point where shutting down feels safer than facing what’s buried inside.

All of this is real.

All of this is PTSD.

And none of it is your fault.

You are not broken. You are surviving.

The daily mind field of PTSD is shaped by trauma.

Here is something deeply important to know: healing is possible. 

You are not alone in this.

There are trauma therapists, EMDR clinicians, and body-based practitioners who understand these symptoms not as pathology, but as adaptations.

Brilliant, protective strategies that once kept you alive.

But now, they may be keeping you from fully living.

There is a way out of this mind field.

It’s not easy, and it’s not instant.

But it’s possible—with the right tools, support, and time.

Healing begins by recognizing what you’ve carried, and remembering: You were never meant to carry it alone.