Can Retrauma Increase Anxiety?

[Kassandra]

I've sort of asked my psychologist about this, but he was a little vague (though generally answered in the affirmative).

I had relatively bad anxiety and panic disorder before I experienced my initial trauma and was subsequently diagnosed with PTSD. After the PTSD hit in full, my anxiety doubled, and my panic attacks increased to an alarming number that's been relatively unmanageable for the past few years.

I experienced retrauma in January of this year, and now my anxiety has essentially quadrupled to the point of being paralyzed. No one seems to understand this, but I feel like the retrauma contributed. Is this possible?

 

[Ronin]

Is this possible?

Not just possible, entirely normal to happen.

 

[anonymous]

I do understand this as it's happened to me and I think I know very much how you feel. I was making progress, although it was slow and was retraumatized. I feel it has set me back and my anxiety is constant. I sat paralyzed for weeks and am trying to do a little more each day. I would love to feel good about myself again. Every small thing I do has to be counted as a step forward. I don't know if this is how you feel. I just hope you feel better

 

[lostforgottensoul]

No one seems to understand this

????

You have some bad Drs then.

First, PTSD is an anxiety, hyper arousal type of disorder. Anxiety and SUPER DUPER HIGH anxiety are all normal. After a retauma your body is now on more hyper arousal, more "watching your back" in anxiety and fear maybe. There is a large amount of things that happen but trauma caused the PTSD and anxiety and watever to begin with. What do you think retrauma does? Adds more anxiety to the anxiety cup maybe?

It's like saying rain filled a bucket half way. Water was left in the bucket but it rained again and then filled it up all the way. More rain more water in the bucket. The rain is trauma and the water in the bucket is anxiety and other symptoms.

But its like your Drs or whoever don't understands doesn't get rain filled up the bucket more.

 

[EveHarrington]

Hi!

Do you understand the basics of PTSD?

PTSD is a stress disorder, meaning that for most of us (all of us?) we have greatly increased/skyrocketing anxiety levels------even for those who have never felt anxious a day in their life (and for those who already have an anxiety disorder).

I think that reading up on diagnostic symptoms would help you understand what you've been diagnosed with.

 

[Kassandra]

I do understand this as it's happened to me and I think I know very much how you feel. I was making...

No, this is exactly how I feel and it's awful! I'm sorry you're experiencing the same thing!

In January, I was successfully going to school full-time and working part-time, living on my own and socializing relatively "normally". Now I'm taking time off of school, not working, I moved back into my family home, and can barely spend an hour with my closest friends without feeling like I'm dying from all the panic and anxiety.

It's like everything suddenly became 100x worse, and it's incredibly jarring and frightening.

 

[Kassandra]

Hi!

Do you understand the basics of PTSD?

PTSD is a stress disorder, meaning that for most of u...

I do understand, full well, the symptoms and effects of PTSD, though I feel like retraumatization (and what it entails) isn't as highly discussed. So while I had anxiety and panic disorder prior to PTSD, my initial trauma quite obviously increased these symptoms and added the traditional set of other PTSD-related symptoms and triggers. That being said, I don't know much about re-trauma and how debilitating it can be, nor do my doctors/therapists/psychologists either.

Most people that I talk with seem to focus on the initial trauma, and not on subsequent traumas (keeping in mind that I live in a place that has incredibly poor mental health, which is a shame because we're an incredibly liberal state/city and I feel like things should be better, but then again, I am an idealist).

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I live in a place that has incredibly poor mental health,

That shows as I am not focusing on the orginal trauma in therapy. We are focused on all and any trauma and must work through them all.

And all symptoms could be highened by all traumas.

 

[DharmaGirl]

Retraumatization is experiencing trauma all over again, so therefore the symptoms would become worse. I was retraumatized 2 years ago, resulting in an upsurge in symptoms and new meds, then again last year, resulting in the same. All my docs know about it, and deal with it. I would refer to it as simply trauma now, since I have multiple traumas anyway.

 

[EveHarrington]

I guess I don't understand why you'd assume that retrauatization is very different from initial traumatization? Maybe I'm reading this wrong.

Trauma can increase anxiety/stress symptoms.

Re-traumatization can increase symptoms------sometimes it's the same as before, sometimes it's less than before, sometimes it's more than before. (The reaction can/will vary.)

I think you should focus on the fact that trauma is trauma is trauma. There is no real need to separate it all out. If trauma affects you, it needs to be dealt with, period. I mean is it like saying "only the first rape matters. Rapes 2-20 we won't focus on or even address"-----?

 

[Silver.]

sounds like your doctors need to read about the stress cup. I think once you read it, you will get a bit of an "ah-ha" moment, as it just resonates with so many people
https://www.myptsd.com/threads/the-ptsd-cup-explanation.83659/

I have to agree, it is so bizarre to be treated for PTSD and have those people not understand that going through more trauma is going to cause a storm of new emotions on top of the emotions you are already experiencing.
(and I might just question if the people I am seeing are the people I want to continue seeing...)

 

[Kassandra]

I guess I don't understand why you'd assume that retrauatization is very different from initial t...

I suppose it's because my doctor, psychiatrist, and psychologist all seem to have the belief that any further trauma might make me uncomfortable for a brief period of time, and then things will go back to the regular level of anxiety after a few weeks...which hasn't been the case. Because of being told that for the past six months, it's hard to not think that they must be right, though like I said, mental health care is not great here.

I'm not trying to come across as uneducated here: I do more research than my physicians almost all of the time (seriously, it is frustrating to no end). I was just trying to confirm my own beliefs that my medical and mental health team seem to think is simply impossible.