Why aren't there any other lesbians who feel the same way as me?
Does anyone experience this kind of C-PTSD
Hi
So I am a lesbian (18F) I was born in Türkiye (I don't want to share my city) and grew up in a very conservative city. I had four older brothers; three of them were veiled misogynists and homophobes. My other brother was normal, but I don't want to talk about him. I also have a twin sister who has the exact same life experiences as me; we have very small differences. To get to the point, because my family and the city I grew up in are quite conservative, I hide myself. I'll probably continue doing this until I'm 25-26 (at best). Until then, I live as if I don't have an arm.
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During this process, I'm like invisible, I don't feel alive. Sometimes I feel like transparent colors. Because I can't feel my existence, I started watching lesbian films. I saw this as a safe haven, a refuge. Sometimes I would come across heterosexual sexual scenes, and in the first few seconds, I would clench my teeth, my eyes would narrow, then I would start feeling angry. Within two minutes, I would start crying, hitting things, my breathing would become irregular, my heart rhythm would be disrupted, and my anger would increase. I would suddenly turn off the film, I would feel the urge to throw the phone somewhere (I didn't, of course), and I would feel the urge to gouge out my eyes in anger (of course). I wasn't doing that either.) Then I'd calm down and watch a movie I knew was safe, and it would pass (or so I thought). Then today I watched a lesbian movie, encountered a rape scene, and went out and watched another lesbian movie (it looked quite sweet). I saw two detailed heterosexual sex scenes in a row. When I experienced this in the place I coded in my brain as an escape route, I suddenly stopped. My routine crisis repeated itself, but this time I felt shattered. I thought this wasn't normal, so I researched it and found out I have post-traumatic stress disorder. I've never seen such trauma in other lesbians. Are there other lesbians who experience this? When I watch these scenes, the things my brain tells me are so terrifying; I'm filled with hatred and anger, it feels like it's killing me, When I look back on my life, I see that I grew up surrounded by anger, that I used it as a weapon against what was done to me. Anger and hatred became my home; hating makes me feel alive, it's a way of reacting to what's done to me. and I can be triggered by the smallest things. It doesn't have to be heterosexual sex scenes; generally, when I see sympathy, romantic or sexual attraction towards men in other people, it triggers me. I feel threatened.The funny thing is, I don't want to give up on this, or rather, I'm confused at this point. It's like if I give up, they'll win, like I'll surrender. I feel like if I watch these scenes that are being imposed on me and accept them as normal, I'll be denying what's being done to me, denying my feelings. And I have this thought, "This imposition isn't normal, and that's why I'm reacting so strongly. It will never be normal, so my reaction will continue." It's a feeling that outweighs the thought and controls me, and it's exhausting me. Is there anyone else experiencing this? Is there anyone who has experienced the same specific trauma?
(English is not my native language o translated it sorry for the mistakes)
Posted Jun 15, 2026, 12:57 PM UTC