Shep689 Oneshots

ptsd in benji's words

*In honor of October being Mental Health Awareness week/day, this oneshot is Benji explaining his PTSD in his own words. Send suggestions! I hope you enjoy! Love • Bree ❣️

RJ and Will are sitting together as they begin to film. Will is holding a sleeping Theodore in his arms.

"Hi, guys!" RJ says softly as Will places Theodore in his swing.

"Hi, guys! Sorry, Theodore was being fussy and I had to rock him to sleep." Will says as he kisses RJ.

"This video is going to be special video and educational. As you know, Will and I talk about mental health a lot on our channel and we share our struggles with anxiety and PTSD. We also talk about our son, Benji and his PTSD journey." RJ says and Will nods in agreement.

"I have PTSD due to things that happened to me in my childhood and I understand Benji's PTSD very well. For those who are new to our channel, we adopted our son Benjamin or as we call him Benji when he was three years old." Will says and RJ nods.

"We decided to have Benji talk about his PTSD on camera for you guys and what he experiences because, I think it's important to see a child point of view of it. You see a bunch of videos and articles of adults having PTSD but you don't hear about it much in young children. Benji has dealt with PTSD since he was placed in foster care at twenty one months old and right away they noticed the signs of PTSD in him. So, we are going to talk about Benji's PTSD and then have Benji talk about it." RJ says and Will holds RJ's hand.

"Benji's PTSD is based on abuse from his biological dad, his parents using drugs around him and making it an unsafe environment. And the house fire that ultimately killed his parents and caused Benji to have burn scars on his body. We won't go into detail about his biological parents because we don't think it's fair for us to bash them. But mostly the PTSD Benji experiences is about the house fire that Benji survived." Will says.

"Benji's PTSD has gotten so much better because he goes and sees a therapist about every two weeks or so. If we say in the vlogs we are going to see Ms. Mary, then we are going to see his therapist. She does a lot of exercises with Benji and she has helped Benji since day one of being in foster care and now that he's home with us. She's is an amazing lady and a sweetheart!" RJ says and Will smiles.

"She is amazing. We don't film in there because I don't think it's fair to Benji if we are filming him because he gets emotional and he talks about his feelings and such." Will says.

"Benji still has a few triggers we are working on but they don't come up as often as they did when we first brought him home." RJ says as Will picks up Theodore who is awake again.

"One trigger is that he sometimes has nightmares about fires and the dream is always the same. He can't escape and he is trapped in the house. He wakes up all sweaty and panicking and we have to help him breathe normally again." Will says as Theodore coos.

"He used to wet the bed, but he hasn't lately, which is good. That embarrassed him a lot." RJ says and Will nods in agreement.

"And if he does do it he is sick. We never yell at him when he does it. He remembers the street he used to live on so if he sees a street with a similar name he gets really anxious, but we remind him that's it's okay and you are safe." Will says.

"He hates the smell of fire. He doesn't like bonfires or anything like that. But he is getting better with this. He used to have a meltdown but now he just tells Will and I that he's anxious or scared and we help him." RJ says as he picks up Theodore from Will.

"Actually his friend had a bonfire and he was there and he did really well. He didn't sit near the fire, he sat further away. But that's awesome progress from before." Will says and RJ nods.

"The sirens on fire trucks and ambulances bother him a lot. He covers his ears but he isn't afraid of firefighters. A firefighter came to school to teach the kids fire safety and Benji was just fine. I think it depends on the day and how the weather is because Benji remembers the weather the day the fire happened. We tell him that it's okay, the fire trucks and ambulances are going some where else and to help others." RJ says.

"He hates doctor tv shows and seeing people dying. He saw his parents bodies and he remembers the paramedics trying to save them and that's scary for him. But, he does really well when he sees the doctor and gets shots fine. If it's a bad night, he dreams about people dying around him too that's another nightmare he has." Will says as Theodore falls asleep on RJ.

"I think that's everything about Benji's PTSD. Some things we wanna keep private but I think we said everything else." RJ says as he kisses Theodore's cheek.

"Everybody's PTSD is different and their experience and triggers are different. I actually haven't told Benji about my PTSD really. I don't want him thinking differently about family members and such." Will says as Coralei and Benji laugh in the background.

"Bubba! Come here! We are making a video about PTSD and Daddy and I wanted you to talk about it. Just say what you wanna say." RJ says as Benji and Coralei walk over.

"Hi!" Coralei says as she smiles.

Will sets Theodore in his swing and puts Coralei in his lap.

"This part of the video will be Benji in his own words talking about his PTSD." Will says as he kisses Coralei's cheek.

The camera is now just showing Benji, sitting there with Coralei, who asked to join Benji in the video.

"My name is Benjamin and I am five years old! I have PTSD." Benji says.

"Can you explain to everybody why you have PTSD?" RJ asks Benji.

"I have PTSD because I was in a house fire when I was a little baby. It was really scary! Can I show them my scars?" Benji asks Will and RJ.

"Sure, bubba!" Will says as Benji stands up and lifts his shirt up, showing a burn scar on his back and the back of his leg.

"These burns came from when the firefighter picked him up and ran out of the house with him." Will says snd Benji nods.

"They don't hurt! Papi or Daddy puts cream on it to lighten up the scars so you can't see them!" Benji says.

"That's right, bubba. Do you go to therapy?" RJ asks Benji.

"Yes! I see Miss Mary and she's awesome! We play together and we talk about about my feelings and the past!" Benji says with a grin.

"That's right, bubba. You love Miss Mary don't you?" Will asks Benji.

"Yes!" Benji says as he fixes his hair.

"Have you met other kids with PTSD?" RJ asks Benji.

"I have! I meet them in therapy!" Benji says.

"Are you happy that Papi and I made a video about PTSD?" Will asks Benji.

"Yes! I wanna teach people about PTSD because it's okay to feel sad and it's okay!" Benji says.

"Aw, you are so sweet. I love you." Will says as he blows a kiss to Benji.

"I love you too, bubba. You are a big brave boy." RJ says making Benji smile.

"I love you too, Daddy and Papi!" Benji says with a big grin.

Coralei kisses Benji's cheek and Benji smiles. 

Will and RJ sit back with Coralei and Benji. RJ has Theodore in his lap while Will is holding Coralei. Benji is sitting in between RJ and Will.

"We hope you guys enjoyed today's video. We love you guys!" Will says as he and RJ wave.

Benji and Coralei wave goodbye and blow a kiss.

"We will see you in our next vlog! Bye!" RJ says as he, Will, Benji and Coralei wave goodbye!

Will, RJ, Theodore, Benji and Coralei spent the rest of the day together :)