@parus

You said you're not proud of the anger you feel when PTSD is triggered. My first response to that is that anger is an appropriate reaction. Not being proud of it implies to me that you feel guilt or shame for feeling angry.

I wonder how your anger presents. Physical response or mental or emotional response?

I was raised with the notion that anger was bad or wrong, and not allowed to express it. So, coping with it has been an ongoing struggle for me as an adult. It wasn't just anger that was banned. Tears, fear, frustration - expressing anything like those things was supposed to be suppressed. The result was that I kept everything in and wore the "I'm fine" mask. Not very healthy or productive. I wish my parents had taught us how to express instead of suppress our inner thoughts.

I think I've learned that anger in itself isn't bad. Rather, it's the expression of it that's important. Neither suppression nor eruption is usually the answer. It lies somewhere between the two. The word balance is a good one to apply to how we live out our lives.

So, what do you think? Any suggestions for me as to expressing anger and all its siblings appropriately? My 5 siblings and I have worked around the issues in our own ways.

Of course, our parents loved us and raised us to be loving, productive adults in many positive ways. I don't want to give the idea that our family was dysfunctional. We are and always have been a close knit bunch.

Jim