u/ShawnDet313

You're completely unarmed and have no way to fight back. Your only goal is to survive by escaping or hiding.

Which would you choose?

Option A: A starving brown bear

- Can stand around 8–10 feet tall on its hind legs.

- Typically weighs 500–1,000+ pounds (some are even larger).

- Can sprint up to about 35 mph.

- Has enormous strength capable of overturning heavy objects and overpowering large prey.

- Equipped with 3–4 inch claws and a bite powerful enough to crush bone.

- A starving bear is highly motivated to find food and may be more persistent than usual.

Potential injuries include deep lacerations, crushed bones, puncture wounds, severe blood loss, and fatal trauma.

Option B: A raging chimpanzee

- Around 4–5.5 feet tall.

- Usually weighs 70–150 pounds.

- Can run around 25 mph.

- Extremely agile, capable of climbing, jumping, and changing direction quickly.

- Has tremendous upper-body strength for its size and a very powerful grip.

- Possesses large canine teeth capable of inflicting devastating bites.

- A chimp in an aggressive frenzy can be relentless and unpredictable.

Potential injuries include severe bites, torn flesh, broken fingers or hands, severed genitals, eye injuries, facial trauma, and permanent disfigurement.

Assume you're dropped into a large forest with a short head start. You can run, hide, climb over obstacles, or use the environment—but you have no weapons, no vehicles, and no outside help.

Which are you choosing, and why?

I'm 33. I have PTSD from child sexual abuse, physical violence, and verbal and emotional abuse throughout my life. The person I consider to be the main antagonist in my life and have had the biggest negative impact on me is my older brother. When I was around 7-10 years old he molested me in the basement of our childhood home. Throughout my childhood and teens he abused me physically and into my early 20s he bullied me verbally. Honestly I hate him. I tried not to throughout my life but I do. He moved to another state 12 years ago. I have no relationship or communication with him at all and I prefer that.

I tend to have intrusive thoughts of people watching me, mocking me, and ganging up on me (either verbally or physically).

I believe it's because of being bullied by my older brother and classmates throughout my childhood and teen years. I was born and raised in Detroit. The bullying here can be vicious and can (and oftentimes would) escalate to physical violence quickly.

I initially believed the paranoia of being ganged up on was a symptom of schizophrenia but my therapist said it is PTSD because I know the thoughts aren't currently happening but from past experiences. When I have these intrusive thoughts I get kind of scared, nervous, and have a racing heart, and sweaty palms. Then I become angry. Internalized anger. Never outbursts. At least not in public or around other people. Only in the privacy of my own home. I have enough awareness to know how I would be perceived by others.

Several times a day, when I have these intrusive thoughts, I get angry and I begin physically reenacting fights. Like literally throwing a punch (or punches) at the air. I think I do this because of unresolved trauma and being beaten/jumped and wanting to "win" the fight this time around.

On Friday I processed a memory from when I was around 5-7 years old. I used the hand buzzers. The memory was of me feeling sad and depressed while riding in the backseat of my mom's car while she drove me to school.

During BLS my mind wandered and I felt nothing emotionally. I remember at that age feeling sad and depressed but even at only 5-7 years old I was confused on why I felt sad. What stood out to me (and disappointed me) the most though was that the memory was blurry. I could barely remember it.

During the session I felt like I had to force myself to feel the sadness instead of that feeling presenting itself naturally. Also during the session I tried to imagine me comforting my younger self by hugging him and reassuring him that he is safe. Honestly I was disappointed that we started with this memory because I feel like memories of me at an older age being physically abused or bullied will a have greater impact.

At the time of writing this it's been 2 days since the session (it's Sunday). I feel no changes and I'm still experiencing the same intense symptoms. What should I do?

Intake was at the beginning of April. For the past two and a half months I've been prepping, doing resources, and building a timeline.

This Friday I'm finally going to start processing. I'm so excited! I work Mon-Thu, so I have all weekend to rest. From everything I've been reading about EMDR and others' experiences, I can't wait to see what it's like.

I’m currently in EMDR therapy and still in Phase 2 (prep/resources), but getting close to starting processing soon.

One of my main issues is intrusive thoughts—especially mentally reenacting arguments or confrontations and getting stuck in those loops.

I’m curious about other people’s experiences:

• When you started EMDR processing, how did it affect your intrusive thoughts?
• Did they stop quickly after certain sessions, or was it more gradual over time?
• Did you notice they became less intense, less frequent, or just easier to let go of?

I’m trying to get a realistic idea of what to expect. I know everyone’s different, but hearing real experiences would help.

Just wanted to share where I’m at and see if anyone else had a similar experience.

I started EMDR at the beginning of April (intake on April 3rd), and I’ve been going weekly ever since. I’m currently in Phase 2 and have done several sessions focused on grounding, regulation, and different resources (container, leaf on a stream, light stream, etc.).

At first, I was honestly pretty impatient. It felt like I just wanted to “get to the real part” (BLS/processing), and I even started wondering if I was just being strung along.

But in my most recent session, my therapist told me I’m about 75% through Phase 2, which kind of changed my perspective. It made me realize I’m actually closer than I thought, not stuck at the beginning.

Now I’m starting to feel more excited than frustrated. I feel like I have a better understanding of:

• my nervous system (ventral/sympathetic/dorsal)
• how to ground myself when things get intense
• how to not get completely pulled into my thoughts

I still want to start processing soon, but I can see why this phase matters more now.

For those who’ve been through EMDR:

• Did your perspective shift like this during Phase 2?
• How did it feel when you finally moved into Phase 3 and started BLS?

Just looking forward to getting into the next phase and seeing where it goes.

I started EMDR recently and wanted to get some perspective from people who’ve gone through it.

My intake session was April 3rd

I’ve done several grounding exercises and resources so far

I’m currently in Phase 2 and have done two sessions in this phase

I see my therapist weekly (Fridays), and tomorrow will be my 5th session

So far we’ve done things like grounding exercises, nervous system education, and different resources. I understand that this phase is important, but I’m starting to feel a bit impatient.

I like my therapist but I'm starting to feel like I’m just spending money and being strung along.

For those who’ve done EMDR:

How long did Phase 2 last for you?

When did you actually start BLS/processing (Phase 4)?

Did you feel impatient at this stage too?

I guess I just want to know if this pacing is normal or if I should expect to start processing soon.