People Faking Ptsd

[Epe]

It's about the motivation for me - why are they saying they have ptsd? For a lot of us, a much smaller stressor triggered ptsd from a major underlying trauma. And I don't go round announcing my trauma history, so I tend to not assume that if someone says they got ptsd from a stubbed toe that I have the whole picture.

People who say it to rort disability? I just feel sad for them. Living off disability is a shitty life compared with getting out there and doing something meaningful.

Some dumb teen with the whole "That exam totes gave me ptsd" -
We used to announce we had breast cancer every time we got a knock to the chest. You grow out of that stuff, so meh!

People who have self-diagnosed because they really believe their breakup has caused THAT much suffering? It must be really crap to live life with this warped perception that you're suffering so much all the time, when in fact you could be out there moving on and enjoying yourself.

Usually I can't actually tell what the private motivations are, so I don't assume, but I don't make it my issue either. People say dumb stuff. And sometimes, people are suffering a lot more than I realise. Lord knows that ptsder's are expert at making out like things are much better than they are.

None of it really effects me that much. I tend to get a sympathetic response if I have to confide to someone that I have ptsd, and until that changes, I can't say that the fakers are really impacting my life at all.

 

[Nekeh]

None of it really effects me that much. I tend to get a sympathetic response if I have to confide to someone that I have ptsd, and until that changes, I can't say that the fakers are really impacting my life at all

Thank you! For your entire post as that is what I was trying to say! You just said it better than I!

 

[Wocuv]

Also l chose not to divulge some of my ptsd symptoms. Because some are very serious and may come back to haunt me. So l tend to wonder if other people are in denial about some ptsd symptoms. Somethings that are ptsd symptoms, l didn't know were, yet l had them, and only discovered once l got out of denial and could really focus. I guess you could call me a ptsd idiot. Even my therapist didn't give me a heads up. So greatful for this site and the founder @anthony.

 

[Hilego]

I think, when talking about self-diagnosis it depends on context. I think that there is a fair number of people who self-diagnosis as a step to seeking out therapy. And what if your PTSD is related to doctors/therapists and that kind of thing? Or what if you are going to therapy, but haven't brought yourself to talk about the past trauma? It can be a long road to get to an official diagnosis. So if someone seeks out a place like this, but has thus far only self-diagnosed I'm certainly not going to judge. It's their journey to take. If the PTSD label isn't right, likely they will move off after a time.

I also think that terms like OCD and PTSD have crept into common vernacular. That can be problematic, because it means someone with the true mental illness may have more explaining to do. At the same time, it can also create a starting point of shared knowledge that might not occur of PTSD wasn't so well (rightly and wrongly) known. And language evolves. There is the clinical flu, and then there's what people call the flu and those two are often very different things. People who say they have the flu, when they actually have some other virus are not necessarily fakers. Does it make the general population less aware of just how bad the flu can be? Probably. Does that mean if I get the real, clinical flu, I'm going to expend energy feeling like I'm being harmed by people who don't really have the flu but claim they do? It's not worth it.

And yeah, then there's the people who are trying to get some advantage- attention, benefits, etc. For those that are doing it for the attention, most of the time I manage to have empathy for them. Imagine how desperate they must be to have attention. It's another kind of human pain. If you're just faking for benefits, I imagine you do all sorts of other dishonest stuff and your not someone I'm going to respect anyway.

Oh and as for faking PTSD, I've yet to see anyone who can actually fake a PTSD symptom successfully.

If I read about someone saying "I have terrifying flashbacks and am scared of people, but in the same sentence," but I go out partying and socialising every night" I would deem that person a liar . Because, it's an oxymoron.
I don't know about anybody else, but I have zero control over my flashbacks and cannot control when, where and why they happen... When I say that I can't socialise because of my flashbacks, I really f#cking mean it.

I don't know, if I would automatically deem the person a liar. They may well be. There may be another explanation. What are they doing at those parties? Are they drinking them self sick and headed down a path of self-destruction? Are they at the party because as bad as the flashbacks and fear of people are, it's better than being at home cutting and counting pills?

And, you may not believe me, but with DID, I can have someone inside having a bad flashback and outside we are fine. Which causes us to feel like a liar, because how can those two things co-exist? It used to be, that one I was alone after that I'd always engage in some intense self-harm because 1) I felt like I deserved it for lying either to myself or the world and 2) it was such a .... contradictory (perhaps cognitive dissonance is the term?) experience that I had to make my insides and outsides match.

 

[Irikut]

The hardest part of having ptsd is that there is no definition that makes us all qualified

I'm an attorney. Last year I w...

Can someone tell me why this person is allowed to go around saying "who the f*ck do you think you are?" If anyone said this on the main forum they'd get into trouble! I reported it but mods apparently ignored it. @joeylittle why is this person getting special treatment? If you let her say it, we can all say it I suppose.

 

[Anev]

Can someone tell me why this person is allowed to go around saying "who the f*ck do you think you are?" If anyone said this on the main forum they'd get into trouble! I reported it but mods apparently ignored it. @joeylittle why is this person getting special treatment? If you let her say it, we can all say it I suppose.

In the context of the post, the poster is being rhetorical. If they had not gone to a length to explain that they weren't attacking, I'd probably have responded differently.

If the statement was missing the word f*ck, it wouldn't hit so harshly. So, that's (to me) a regrettable use of profanity - but not an actionable one.

It's not special treatment. If the behavior had continued, it would have been actionable. But in the context of that post, it is not.

Am I making a mistake? Possibly. I'm applying my judgment. Threads get heated. In this forum, somewhat moreso, lately. But this one recovered and got back on topic on its own. I'm going to ask that if anyone - Irikut or any other member - have more to say on the matter, that they PM me or open a ticket, so this can get back on topic, here. Thanks.

-Joeylittle

 

[Adif]

I have not met a person who has told me that they have PTSD, when they do not. I have met and spoken with people who do not believe me when I tell them about PTSD. I have been asked in a derogatory way whether I have been diagnosed, or if I just decided that I have this issue. (I have had this happen in therapy, too.) I have met people who have told me that I am using PTSD as a crutch. I have had co-workers and family members decide that I am "on "drugs", while I have been going through episodes. I have had other family members ignore the whole thing, because I "seem fine" when I see them. A few people in my life "know" that I am crazy and the PTSD why of it is disregarded.
I can't imagine wanting this. I remember the shock I felt when I read about the symptoms that I had been experiencing for a year. I remember the anger and betrayal I felt when I looked into it, and found out that this was something I would need to overcome for the rest of my life. I remember the sadness when I was diagnosed.
I feel broken most of the time, and alone. I do stupid crap (engage in risky behavior) to mend myself. Which, of course, makes it worse. I try to force myself to overcome it. I try to "be normal", "feel normal".
Point: I haven't been around people who want it. It isn't a badge of honor for me. It isn't an excuse for me. It isn't a ploy for money or sympathy. It's a soul sickness, that I try to overcome.

 

[Kami]

Can someone tell me why this person is allowed to go around saying "who the f*ck do you think you are?" If anyone said...

It was edited. It wasn't spelled out.

I have not met a person who has told me that they have PTSD, when they do not. I have met and spoken with people who do n...

For me I don't even say I have it. I say "my issue". It embarrasses me frankly.

 

[Votafik]

Not sure why the double quote

 

[Paki]

I'm weaning myself off this forum, but to be honest this is one of the things I've noticed here that I do not understand.
All the questioning and doubting of others and the push to get a professional diagnosis of PTSD.
I had PTSD for 3 decades before I knew what was wrong g with me - and now cptsd.
Yes I finally got a professional diagnosis!!!! So what? All it did was validate the ways I felt.
My biggest suffering in those 3 decades was invalidation.
Every time I saw someone questioned here about their "right" to claim PTSD it did my head in.
PTSD does not make you special. PTSD does not entitle you to any special and different rights than others.
PTSD is a broken down nervous system from too much trauma.
I would never assume to know how much trauma any person had been through. Usually it shows in the way they are.
I'm not offended by anyone who thinks they may have it, even if they don't.
I'm confused as to why so many here seem to want to own the label of PTSD like its a special thing "earned" by suffering.
Hey, guess what? Everyone suffers in this life! Some get suffering g overload that leads to PTSD
But no one who ever lived has never suffered.
PTSD does not exempt you from feeling compassion for the struggles of others, whether you have PTSD or not!!!

 

[Kavu]

I hate when people judge me and my PTSD , saying things like "are you sure? was it really that bad? Or " what did he really do to you anyway? From my mom when I told her that her friend's husband molested me as a child Or my favorites, "you were old enough to know better or "why didn't you just leave" also from mom about being raped at 17 and being in domestic violence situations"

I learned along time ago that traumas can not be compared or rated against each other. What happened to me, was my worst thing, and what happens to anyone else is their worst. And I won't judge how they deal with things because there were times when I acted out from either PTSD or my bipolar where it may have looked like I was having a great time, but I was just trying to escape the thoughts in my head. I deal with my illness my way, right wrong or otherwise. It doesn't make me any more or less PTSD because of it.
For those of you with DBT experience, take a nonjudgmental stance. Worry about your own recovery.
Getting off my soapbox now.

 

[Ehepu]

I'm not posting this to hurt any feelers but does anybody else get the feeling that people lie or think they have ptsd whe...

I think people like you are trying to be special, when the truth of the matter is you're not. Not only are you not special but your wrong for trying to put some kind of comparison of your symptoms to that of another. The fact of the matter is people who do this are most likely the poser looking to absolve themselves of their past or present actions, using a mental condition to reason your action or actions before society or the world. If you only knew great pain, suffering, fear, you would never compare your supposed pain to any other