I do suffer of PTSD from earthquakes. The first one I experienced I was a few days shy of my 16th birthday. It was a big one, over 7 on Richter - the reports even after so many years put it anywhere between 7.2 and 7.5 or even higher. It was also a very long one, lasting almost a minute. I still remember, it was at 9:22 pm, and there was a Bulgarian movie on TV. I forgot the name of the movie. I had never before experienced such a thing as an earthquake. For a 16 year old it is quite a trauma. Our building didn't have any major damages, only broken windows and some cracked plaster, but in the city there were over 40 collapsed buildings and almost 1600 people died that night and the following nights, crushed under the tons of debris, before rescuers could reach them. Many died of exposure (it was a cold March), of hunger and mostly of thirst.
Then there were a good number of earthquakes after that, 6.8 6.5 6.2 5.8 6.4 and so on.
I did live through quite a number of things in my life. One of those curses "may you live in interesting times".
Practically it started with that earthquake. Then there were the following ones. Floods. An anti-communist revolution to which I was an active participant - talk about gunshots and wounded and dead people. A serious car crash that left me in a 5 days 3rd degree coma. Divorce and abandonment when I was barely able to keep myself alive through severe thyrotoxicosis with a heart rate of over 130 at rest, and two thyroid storms with sinus tachycardia of over 200 bpm. Then many tornado outbreaks. A breast cancer journey.
I do have PTSD. the slightest earth jolt brings me to an unbelievable state of anxiety. When I was still in my homeland I would pray for hours before going to sleep, afraid an earthquake would happen in the night and I would wake up buried under tons of debris, slowly suffocating. Oh yes, I also have PTSD about elevators - when I was around 8 years old I was in one that fell.
So anyway. May you NOT live in interesting times.
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