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Do You Have PTSD?

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A counselor once told me I had a choice, I can accept who I am and be "crazy" and deal with my symptoms and move on with life or live in denial and not manage my symptoms. A light went on for me at that moment, it help me deal with a lot of the self-pity I had going on and helped me think--yeah so this happend to me, I'm definitely changed and have serious symptoms, BUT I still want a good life, and I definitely don't want what happend to shape the rest of my life. I still have my "bad" moments, but I think accepting yourself, ptsd or whatever other label society wants to stick on us, is a big step in the right direction.
 
I have complex ptsd. Earlier in life in made me feel good to have a diagnosis of some sort, now I feel stigmatized by it a little because it isn't from something clearly explainable and obviously traumatic. But, yay! I can admit it!
 
Well, when I converse I would never bring it up. Others notice symptoms. I've never thought of this. When I was young, brother would make it an issue. Did bother me. But lesser than is a matter of opinion. Embrace it. But don't bring it up publicly.
 
Armymedic80, I like what you say your counsellor said to you about accepting the condition. For me personally I am only just accepting my diagnosis (complex PTSD with depression) - I have spent to the last few years fending off the medical profession, putting on a 'front' and making it look like I was invulnerable despite their obvious concerns - now I am being forced to confront my vulnerability and say, yes, I accept that I do have PTSD. But it is shit! Who would want to be like this?
 
I know I have it but i am afraid to admit it. I grew up in a family that was pretty strong on the "suck it up" idea of dealing with things. and honestly I believe I am stronger than this. but this fight i am losing a battle with my emotions I cannot win alone. each time I think i got it together something triggers me and i spiral right back down again. That's why I am in therapy and why I am here on the forum. I know I can beat this But right now it feels like a life sentence.
 
I said "I have PTSD" last night to an old friend. To me, it's cathartic to say this, yet, at the same time, it doesn't seem to be able to fully convey the horror that has stuck with me for 20 years.

I'm going through a horrible period of PTSD turbulence currently and am hoping to have the money to get to counseling soon. Thirteen years have passed since I last talked with anyone. And now I feel as if I'm going absolutely crazy (with everpresent anxiety, thoughts of death, lack of motivation, extreme numbness, etc.).

Yes, I have PTSD -- but how do I remove myself from it's wretched shackles?
 
I agree She-cat, I was mis-diagnosed for years. I too thought I was going crazy until the words PTSD were said to me in an emergency room by a phychiatrict nurse. I was so relieved and immediately started therapy. I no longer fight the demons in my head and for the first time in a lonnnnnnnggg time have control over my emotions.
Thanks for posting this thread!
 
Im one of those who now find it a massive relief to finally be able to say "I have PTSD", after years of thinking I was insane, there is finally scientific reasoning, finally a diagnosis, an action plan, and people like you guys who are going through it too. I genuinely thought I was going mad and that scared the life out of me, as I am only 21

My name is LoveWins, and I have PTSD:occasion:Good thread
 
It was the initial panic attack I experienced after reading the Wikipedia article on PTSD that prompted me to look into it. I had come across the article before and made some kind of connection in my brain, like it made sense to me but I didn't really 'get it'. This time I was on my happy pills (legal) and it was like, WHAM, you have it. Those voices telling me to stop reading were kept at bay by an unusual amount of serotonin in my brain.

Was I 'traumatized'? I don't know. I don't know if some other label would explain it better. I don't want to exaggerate my problems and so I don't like being lumped in with Vietnam vets and Dave Pelzer-esque scenarios. Plus, the time period which I would have to examine to determine exactly what did happen, I have no clear memories of.

I think psychology takes the labels too far. I was diagnosed with ADHD, and I do have the traits, but saying "I have ADHD" just sounds awkward. It's not like cancer where you know you either have it or you don't. I guess PTSD is different because it has an objective component (the stressor), but still, we're people, not labels.

Then again, I'm in denial about a lot of things. But I'm also on my honesty pills. :wink:
 
Reading about others being misdiagnosed made me start thinking. I guess I should say that I was misdiagnosed for years with bipolar (because it looks a lot like c-ptsd in adolescence and no one believed me about my trauma). Meeting a therapist who took my story seriously was a wonderful improvement in my life and made me feel like it was okay to say that I have ptsd and not be stealing a name only meant for others. I always knew why my brain did odd things sometimes, but having people tell me I was really bipolar and just crazy was hard. It made me feel like I maybe didn't really know myself and that I may actually be insane. It makes me feel stigmatized to say that I have ptsd, but also relieved that I'm not insane and I do know myself.
 
I don't think of it in terms of having PTSD. I am much more focused on the anxiety component and so to myself I say "bloody anxiety, I can't believe this is happening to me. I hate this. How can this be happening to me? This is just so unfair." That's self-talk.
 
Me too

Hi Manic11,

I have PTSD, I've been out of the army now for about a year now after being retired for PTSD. 3 tours to Iraq i guess just caught up with me. I try to control the PTSD but there's days were the pills and things I've been told to do just don't work. But I guess that is what we now call NORMAL. So I guess what I'm trying to say is your not alone and now I see I'm not either.....Good Luck with your fight.
 
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