r/CPTSD•
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I've Developed a Resting Bitch Face

Victory

I know it's weird to be happy about this, but let me explain.

Recovering from cPTSD, I realized that it was difficult for me to feel comfortable expressing negative emotions, particularly in my body language. I realized it was because I was never allowed to be unhappy due to conditioning from my parents (specifically my sperm donor). Any sign of unhappiness and you get bombarded with questions asking what's your problem and him not letting it go.

Now that I've moved out and done some healing, I realized I have a resting annoyed face quite often. Sometimes, it's just I'm tired or neutral and my face just relaxes in a way that might seem like I have an attitude.

I struggled with giving myself the freedom to just be unhappy sometimes, even at work. I'm never rude or anything, but I've realized it's perfectly fine for you to not be all positive and upbeat all the time. Sometimes my interactions at work are curt and I might be a bit cranky and THAT'S FINE!!! I wouldn't make a big deal about it if someone else was behaving this way but I felt like the bad guy for doing it myself.

Tl;dr: I finally feel comfortable being cranky and looking annoyed and I don't care what anyone has to say about it!!

Posted May 1, 2026, 3:36 AM UTC

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