The Impact of PTSD on Daily Life Habits

I don’t know if this is a habit or not.

I’d call it more a symptom.

If I actually look at it in the definition, it’s hypervigilance, and that’s a direct result of a little something called PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

How do you get that? Try living and working in a combat sone and as a police officer for twenty plus years. Trust me, you’ll be hypervigilent, too,

What is hypervigilance?

I’m always looking. I want to know what going on around me. Call it situational awareness on steroids!

I walk into someplace strange and the first thing I do is look around.

I check out the cliental and automatically put them in three files: Possible Ally, Serious Threat, and Everyone Else. Admittedly, the Serious Threat file, depending on where I’m at, can get pretty thick.

I want to know where the exits are. I find them and catalog them away against needing them.

I look for the things that might make for good cover and concealment.

And I look for the bathrooms. Okay, that might have more to do with the fact that I’m old and when it says I need to go, it actually meant 45 minutes ago and the time in now and counting down. So knowing where those are is paramount.

But I always know what’s going on around me.