What It’s Really Like Having And Traveling With — An Emotional Support Animal

In 2015, I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Later my therapist revised my diagnosis to complex post-traumatic stress disorder. CPTSD means I experienced “chronic trauma that continues or repeats for months or years at a time.” According to my therapist, my disorder stems from being abused by a boyfriend in my late teens and early twenties and is complicated by my early childhood trauma. Everyone’s symptoms are different. Mine usually manifest as nightmares, frequently the same one. I am back in that abusive relationship. All that I did to leave and build a good life has vanished. I am back feeling small, helpless and violated. It’s like a bad movie. I am confused and swear this cannot be right. There must be a mistake. I wake up in a cold sweat, my heart beating as if about to take flight.