PTSD from abusive ex boyfriend then 8 or more of his friends got involved and now stalk me - struggling with daily triggers. Please help

[Zeusette]

I dont know where to start. I have a learning difficulty so its very hard for me to understand what is happening to me and then to put it in words.. so please excuse me while I try. I have severe PTSD.
Basically what my ex did to me is very graphic and not appropriate for some users to read, he repeated doing things to me over 3ish years before I could leave him. He also had filmed me 24/7 and possibly even the things he did to me. Then he told me that his friends got involved. Now I fear that they are stalking me and I don't know what to do. Some of the guys I met on dating apps and out in the clubs, they started behaving like him and did things that he used to do to me and eventually one even told me that he was spying on me for my ex! They all knew private things about my life that they shouldn't know about. At the same time I am having triggers daily and its destroying my current relationship, its making me want to turn to substance.

I don't know what details I can give you as the stuff that happened and still happens today as its most likely going to upset readers.

Questions I would like help with: What do I do about my stalkers? How do they know private things about me? How can I accept that there is footage of me out there I didn't know about? Do I need to go to the authorities? How can I manage daily triggers? How can I explain to my current partner whats happening? How do I know what is PTSD and not?

I am so destroyed. And being isolated at home is not helping.

[Croix]

Dear Zeusette~

First off, welcome here to the Support Forum. Under your circumstance it was a very brave thing to write about this part of your life, with you experience of stalkers it must have been a real worry. Nobody here knows anything about you at all, you are just a name that you picked and that's it. There's no way for anyone here to know more.

I'll go further, if you made a mistake and mentioned something that might identify you then that bit would be erased by the moderators who run this place. You are safe - OK?

Life has been very hard to you and you do not have to give any more details than you want, just what you have said already can be enough.

Sure, you have a lot of questions and have no guide book to help you find the answers.

Having been injured mentally in an abusive relationship and having PTSD are all by themselves difficult things to cope with, and normally take skilled medical personnel, psychiatrists and psychologists who specialize, in order to help you come back to being the person you were before. So may I ask if you are under treatment at the moment, and if so is it helping?

OK, to try to give some thoughts on your questions - not answers, just my thoughts

Stalking is against the law in most states and you can make a complaint. So step one is to find out if it is an offense where you are and if so you provide facts over time, such as you might keep in a journal, nothing fancy, just plain. Photos help to. Then you take these to the police and see what happens.

I'd suggest, if you have not done so already you contact 1800Respect (1800 737 732) who are used to dealing with abusive relationships and their after effects and may be able to give you practical advice.

With the footage, I guess the answer is to be with someone who sees the real you, not the pictures. They know you are the important thing and for them the footage is not important. How would you say your current partner is? Do you think it is you he cares about no matter what?

The hard question is knowing which of your thoughts are PTSD and which aren't

The reasons for my PTSD were different to yours but the resulting thinking was probably much the same. Getting medical treatment and having someone to lean on who you trust to tell you how things really are is the way I improved. I was lucky to have a partner who stuck by me all the way though. I rely upon a partner to tell me when my thinking becomes unrealistic

I've not covered everything, but hope you return

Croix