It seems like managing my symptoms has become my entire life. Everything I do, I run it by CPTSD first. What would CPTSD have me do in this situation?
It might look like I'm just living life like everyone else. But every decision I make, I'm thinking about how it will affect my health. If I stay home from a party, it's because I'm too tired or depressed to be social. If I attend, it's because I know it would be good for me to be social. If I decline drinking alcohol, it's because I'm committed to rigid sleep hygiene rules, but if I have a drink, it's in hopes of reducing stress.
Sometimes the things I do for health are fun, like dance class. But it has to kill two birds with one stone or it's not worth it. If something fun will be mainly detrimental to my health, that's not the kind of fun I can have. Junk food is usually out because nutrition is one area of my health I can actually (sort of) control. Things like travel, spontaneous plans, and loud parties can are often too stressful to be worth any benefits they offer.
Of course, this is somewhat true for everyone: We all make decisions based on what we think will be best for us. It would just be nice to get off the bottom rungs of the hierarchy of needs more than occasionally.
