Today's topic is very sensitive it's about PTSD. This is my first time sharing my personal experience about it online. It's a serious mental health issue but people often take it carelessly. PTSD can affect a person for very long after a painful event is over. I'll be honest, I personally have not experienced it, but one of my close friends went through something that changed his life deeply. So, my acknowledgement about PTSD is because of my friend, his story made me understand how trauma can stay in someone’s life forever and haunt them.
So the disaster occured in the year of 2022, my school friend Sohel went to a family trip with his family. Which was at Sylhet and a huge waterfall was there, Sohel and his guy cousins went there to have fun. The other family members were in a long distance from the waterfall as they were arranging for picnic and talking with each other. So, the parents of Sohel and his cousins restricted them to go near the waterfall. All of his cousins were on the other side near the water, they were laughing and splashing water at each other. And, there was an elder cousin named Saimon, he was 20 years old. He was the only person stayed with Sohel and he kept telling Sohel to move away from the waterfall. But Sohel didn't bother to listen.
In a few seconds, things became terrible. Sohel while trying to pose for the picture he slipped on a wet rock and fell into the strong water current. It happened while Saimon was taking the pictures of Sohel. Saimon quickly jumped forward to help save Sohel.
After a while few local people informed the family about two guys drowning, and one of them was rescued by nearby people. But they informed them that only one could be saved the other boy could not survive. In conclusion, Saimon tried to save Sohel but, he lost his own life. That moment stayed in my Sohel's mind forever.
After that incident, when Sohel came back he was completely changed. I disliked the actions he was doing, like he became isolated and avoidant. And whenever I wanted to have a conversation with him about going out, and texted him about it he completely ghosted me and left my messages on seen for days. Since we were very good friends and we studied in the same school for years, I found his behaviour really strange. At first I felt angry because I thought he was behaving in this manner because of his new classmates. I came to this conclusion because, before he used to care about how I felt, he used to share every gossip with me, he always cheered me up and made me smile.
Few days later, I contacted his family and I learned that he has PTSD for the accident happened during the trip. And Sohel blamed himself for the death of his cousin Saimon. He regrets for not listening to Saimon and kept thinking that maybe his cousin would still be alive if he had been more careful. Saimon's family never blamed Sohel but he had built a guilt inside himself. Not only that he kept having same nightmares every night where Saimon blames Sohel for his death. He even started to have water phobia.
Also, if he was exposed to a video where it was showing waterfall then he would start to panic. Sohel began to hate any topics related to trips because it made him recall the past. After knowing all of these, I could not hold back my tears. I felt really sad for him, I realized PTSD is not only about fear. This was destroying him completely because of emotional pain and guilt. It doesn’t stop as it keeps returning again and again.
As I know about it now, I want to share my personal point of view. Actually the hardest part is when no one understands the trauma from outside because it can't be seen. There are many people who would think that within time things will change and the person will eventually heal. Well they can not if they are not supported by friends and family. Because these emotional wounds can stay hidden for years. The person who is suffering he might smile but they are still struggling inside.
It took him 2 years to recover and it was happening slowly. It was possible because of the support from the people around him. Once his family found out his condition they never left him to stay alone and someone was always his companion. Everyone continously reminded him that the accident was not his fault. I'm glad including me, many friends of his understood him, and never judged about the incident.
I used to call him whenever I was free, we would spend time together playing online games. After 2 years passed he was starting to open up and became talkative, he did not keep everything to himself anymore. He started to join the classes and worked for his aim in life which was to become a doctor. He was studying hard for his dream. Eventually, he started to spend more time with his loved ones. Even though he did not forget the past at all but he was trying to move forward little by little.
I am not sure if his pain could ever fully disappear because I did not dare to ask him about the past again. He had lost someone dear to him so maybe it would never fade away. And I'm glad that he slowly learned how to live with those memories, by accepting the truth.
To be honest, this experience has taught me how to treat someone with PTSD, I can understand them now. I always try to be there for someone who has been going through such mental traumas. I personally believe PTSD should never be ignored. Any kind of trauma can haunt a person for their entire life, even if the event happened years ago. I wish people would start to deal it with kindness and emotional support.
Because these are the elements which is very important for people dealing with painful memories. Just because Sohel healed within 2 years doesn't mean someone else would take the same time, as we are different individuals everything takes time, and every person heals differently. So, I suggest the best thing we can do is simply stay beside someone and remind them they are not alone.
The images are created with Gemini and edited with Canva