A Compassionate Guide from Mind to Heart’s Best Trauma Psychologist in Dhaka!
To love someone with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is to witness a daily battle against invisible wounds. You see the person you know and cherish, but you also see a shadow, a pain that flickers behind their eyes and pulls them into a place you cannot follow. You may feel a confusing mix of deep love, fierce protectiveness, and at times, a profound sense of helplessness, frustration, and even loneliness. You watch them startle at a car backfiring, see them retreat into a stony silence, or struggle through sleepless nights haunted by nightmares. And through it all, you stand by, your heart aching, wondering, “What can I do? How can I reach them? How do I help without making things worse?”
If these questions echo in your own heart, please pause for a moment and acknowledge the weight you are carrying. Your love and your presence are a powerful anchor in your loved one’s stormy sea, but it is a role that can be incredibly taxing. This article is for you. It is a compassionate guide to help you understand the complex world your loved one is navigating, to offer you practical ways to be a safe harbor for them, and, just as importantly, to remind you to tend to your own ship. PTSD is not a character flaw or a sign of weakness; it is a serious and painful psychological injury. And like any injury, it requires knowledgeable, patient, and loving care to heal. With insights from best trauma psychologist in Dhaka, let’s walk this path together.
Before we can effectively support someone, we must first seek to understand their inner world. For a person with PTSD, the past is not truly in the past. It is a living, breathing entity that can hijack the present moment without warning. Their experience is often defined by four core areas of struggle. The first is re-experiencing. This is far more than just having a bad memory. A flashback is a powerful, multi-sensory event where the person is physiologically and emotionally transported back to the traumatic event. Their body relives it—the racing heart, the shortness of breath, the terror—as if it is happening right now. Nightmares, similarly, are not just bad dreams; they are terrifying replays that rob them of the restorative peace of sleep, leaving them exhausted and dreading the night.
The second area is avoidance. You may notice your loved one going to great lengths to avoid people, places, or conversations that remind them of the trauma. This can be painful and confusing, especially if they are avoiding you or shared activities you once enjoyed. Please try to understand this is not a rejection of you. It is a desperate, instinctual attempt to avoid the excruciating pain of a trigger. Their world can become very small as they try to wall off anything that might set off the internal alarm. They may also avoid their inner world through emotional numbing, trying not to feel anything at all because the alternative is simply too overwhelming.
This leads to the third struggle: hypervigilance and reactivity. Living with PTSD is like having a smoke detector in your brain that is faulty and exquisitely sensitive, seeing a five-alarm fire in a puff of steam. Your loved one is likely in a constant state of high alert, their nervous system perpetually scanning for danger. This is why they may seem irritable, jumpy, or easily angered. They aren’t trying to be difficult; their body is stuck in survival mode, primed to fight or flee at a moment’s notice. This state is biologically exhausting and makes relaxation feel impossible.
Finally, there are the negative changes in thoughts and mood. Trauma can fundamentally alter a person’s beliefs about themselves and the world. They may be consumed by feelings of guilt and shame, blaming themselves for what happened. They might feel a profound sense of detachment from others, as if they are living behind a pane of glass. The world can seem like a perpetually dangerous place, and they may lose interest in activities that once brought them joy. Understanding these four pillars of suffering is the first step in replacing judgment with the deep, radical empathy that is essential for healing. A skilled trauma psychologist is an expert in navigating this complex inner world, and can be an invaluable ally for both your loved one and your family.
So, knowing this, how can you become a safe and healing presence? Your role is not to be their therapist, but to be a reliable anchor of safety and unconditional love. The most powerful thing you can do is to listen without judgment. When they choose to speak about their experience, your task is not to fix it, offer solutions, or tell them how they should feel. Your task is simply to listen. Create a space where their pain is allowed to exist without being questioned. Avoid phrases like, “You should be over this by now,” “It wasn’t that bad,” or “Just try to think positive.” Instead, use simple, validating phrases like, “That sounds incredibly hard,” “I’m so sorry you went through that,” or “I’m here with you.”
Gently learn about their triggers. A trigger is any sensory input—a sight, sound, smell, place, or even a specific date—that the brain connects to the original trauma. You can say something like, “I’m trying to understand better what makes things difficult for you. Is there anything I should know about that helps you feel safer?” Don’t press them for details, but be open to learning. This knowledge allows you to help create a more predictable and calming environment, minimizing surprises and sudden changes that can feel jarring to a hypervigilant nervous system.
During a flashback or panic attack, your calm presence can be a lifeline. Remember to manage the crisis, not the person. First, stay calm yourself. Speak in a low, gentle voice. Don’t touch them without asking first, as unexpected touch can feel threatening. Gently orient them to the present moment using grounding phrases: “My name is [Your Name]. You are safe with me. We are in our living room in Dhaka. It is the year 2025. Can you feel the soft blanket? Can you hear my voice?” You are not trying to talk them out of the experience, but to gently guide their senses back to the safety of the present. At Mind to Heart, home to the best trauma psychologist in Dhaka, we believe that psychoeducation for families is a critical part of the healing process.
Perhaps one of the most delicate and important things you can do is to encourage professional help without applying pressure. Your loved one must be the one to make this choice. You can plant a seed by saying, “I love you, and it hurts me to see you in so much pain. I’ve been reading that PTSD is a treatable injury, and there are therapists who specialize in this. I’d be willing to help you find someone if you’re ever open to it.” When they are ready, finding the right support is crucial. The best trauma counsellor in Dhaka will be one who is specifically trained in trauma-informed care.
Now, we must talk about you. You cannot pour from an empty cup. Being a primary support for someone with PTSD is a marathon, not a sprint, and if you don’t tend to your own well-being, you will burn out. It is absolutely essential to acknowledge your own feelings. You have permission to feel frustrated when plans are cancelled. You have permission to feel sad for the person you miss. You have permission to feel tired. These feelings don’t make you a bad partner, parent, or friend; they make you human.
Setting your own boundaries is not selfish; it is an act of survival. It is okay to say, “I love you, but I do not have the capacity to talk about this tonight. Can we find another time?” It is okay to leave the house and do something for yourself. A boundary is a loving way of saying, “I can be here for you up to this point, but I must also take care of myself so I can continue to be here for you in the long run.”
Crucially, you must build your own support system. You also need people you can talk to honestly about your struggles. This might be trusted friends, family members, or even your own therapist. The emotional weight of supporting a trauma survivor is immense, and you should not have to carry it alone. You need a space where you can be validated and heard. Protecting your own mental health is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Sometimes, partners and family members can develop what is known as vicarious or secondary trauma from repeated exposure to traumatic stories and behaviors. If you are experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, or burnout, seeking your own support is a sign of immense strength. If you’re looking for best support for yourself or your family, please know that Mind to Heart has best counsellors who specialize in supporting the supporters.
The journey of healing from PTSD is often a family affair. At Mind to Heart, we have the best trauma psychologist in Dhaka, and our team includes experts who can work not just with the individual, but with couples and families as well. Our Best trauma psychologist in Dhaka can provide a space for improved communication, education, and shared healing. Sometimes, the most powerful progress happens when the family system learns and grows together.
Loving someone with PTSD is a testament to the depth of your commitment. It is a path that requires you to be a warrior of compassion, a student of trauma, and a fierce guardian of your own well-being. There will be days of progress and days of setbacks. Be patient with your loved one, but also, be deeply patient with yourself. You are doing the best you can in an incredibly difficult situation. Remember, you are the safe harbor, not the rescue ship. You cannot do the healing work for them, but you can provide the steady, loving presence that makes their own courageous work of healing possible.
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