I struggling with a major decision and would love some of your input. While I appreciate positive wishes and thank you for the thought, I would prefer to hear some practical perspectives. I'm thinking of going public with "my story". Not my trauma story, per se, but more the struggle to get services and how much organizations need to change the way they are doing things. There has been so much media of late about war veterans with ptsd, it is the perfect time to "come out" as a paramedic with ptsd. I'm trying to do a "risk assessment" on this, and want to make sure I haven't missed anything, especially the bad side. Is there anyone who has "gone public"? What are some of the pros? Cons? What are your thoughts? Even if you haven't gone public, what do you think I should be aware of?
I think it is a very brave and good idea, where are thinking of doing this, in print, anonymously, at an event, etc.? I think the things to consider are, how does your employer feel about you doing this, are they supportive, does going public give them grounds for dismissal, are you willing to be sought out if you go public under your real name? I think going public is brave, but it does open you to both praise and criticism.
Hugs-
CK
Thanks for responding. Going public, to me, is the opposite of anonymous, so my name would be attached. In order to really tell the whole story of the hurdles I've encountered trying to access support. Those hurdles were/are my employer, my union, and worker's compensation. My employment will be in jeapordy but I'm not going back anyways. The union will come up with all sorts of excuses. I might sue them to get all my union dues back since they refused to help, and should have. The real reason is to put pressure on workers compensation. I'm just not sure if I'm up for this level of fight.
@Cakedestroyer My situation is similarly less personally traumatic. My trauma was not against my person (for that I am VERY lucky). My trauma is from my job as a paramedic. I probably would have made the same decision you did by wanting to protect your family. Whenever I am considering doing something that has the potential of harming someone, I ask myself what is the gain. Then I measure the two. Telling my parents about all the crap I’ve uncovered with my therapist from my childhood won’t do any good, but only harm, so I stay silent. Accusing your assailant now might hurt your dad, so only you can decide if it’s worth it. You have thought of the harm it could do. That’s what I’m doing now. Trying to figure out how much harm might come from it.