Have you had trauma? Do you exercise? Do you find you cant relax unless you have pushed yourself beyond what feel's humanly possible? do you feel as if you can push yourself into another realm of ability with physical achievement, do you reach new spiritual peace when scaling a mountain with no ropes? If so, then the symptoms of PTSD may actually being helping you..... to a degree.
After living most of my life with ptsd I had no idea my fitness, endurance and constant limit pushing was linked to the hyper arousal systems and a combination of other symptom clusters. I was a fearless climber as a child and as an adult would run 10 miles in the morning before work and then train every evening in what ever discipline I was into at the time, and sometimes even run home after training. It was like I could never push myself far enough, I could never find a limit, my mind was totally focused on something far away that I couldn't reach, so I just kept going.
At school I was an endurance runner (that is when i went to school), I could just run, however in my mind I was always running away, I was thinking about some type of creature chasing me. I clearly didn't know I had complex PTSD back then at the age 8. However, now after years of recovery and reflection it is easy to make the links. The hyper-arousal systems were consistently active when I was a child and had constant anxiety as a result.
PTSD recovery and fitness are very beneficial, as human beings we are designed to be able to walk up to 20 miles a day, however within the institutions of society we are often sedentary. This then creates further unrest and as people trying to sustain life we try to compensate or adapt, people may smoke so they can leave the office and get a breather, people may call in sick as the thought of sitting still surrounded by people is unbearable, listening to office chatter and having people activate you as they walk behind your exposed back due to the lay out of the office eventually leads to anti depressants or some other type of inappropriate medication to make you cope with sitting still. Either way, when a person has unprocessed PTSD and Trauma they need to be able to move if they are in hyper arousal, they need to move the body and free up the chemicals which are being distributed via the HPA Axis.
If you have trauma / PTSD and have an exceptional ability to just keep going, it could be hyper arousal combined with other E-Clusters, schematic ways of thinking and a deep unrest of unprocessed trauma which may be causing this almost super human ability. When we are in constant hyper arousal we are unable to sit still, we need to move, we need to be able to have lightning reactions. This is driven by a sense of feeling unsafe, however it has been transmuted into a sense of "I can protect myself". To be so vulnerable as a child to then become so physically capable as an adult gives a certain level of confidence and self assurance which we cant get from therapy.
When we have strong E-Clusters we can be prone to risk taking behaviours. I, as a child had no idea or concept of risk. I literally didn't connect scaling a cliff face on my own age 6 in Cornwall while everyone else was sat on the beach as something that was dangerous. In fact I recall the feeling of pushing myself to feel a feeling, and that feeling was the high I would get when I could achieve the impossible. However this was immediately replaced with a dissatisfied feeling of, well if I could do that then what was next?,By the time I had walked back down the path from the top of the cliff I was in a state of depression as there was always something else I had to achieve, nothing was good enough. As an adult I know it as unrelenting standards, which is a schematic way of thinking and many CEO's have this, many successful people are driven by a set of symptom clusters which they have used to their advantage. However, this schematic way of thinking and feeling can exacerbate hyper-arousal and lead to chronic fatigue due to the constant stress response.
If you resonate with this, then connect with me and join in with some of our free webinars to understand what is driving you. I believe firmly in being in the top condition mentally and physically, yet I also believe in working out what is helping us and what needs a little attention. while exercise can be a valuable tool for managing PTSD symptoms, it is crucial to be honest and kind to ourselves and strike a balance between physical activity and hyper-arousal. By understanding the signs of overexercise, modifying routines, and seeking professional support, individuals with PTSD can develop a healthy and sustainable exercise regimen that supports their healing journey and promotes overall well-being. Remember, self-compassion and self-care are essential as you navigate the relationship of hyper-arousal and exercise on your path to recovery. This is my Dog Odin, we go everywhere together, miles and miles of hiking, running and sitting, we do sitting as well now.
