Research Can Ptsd Be Faked Or Not By A Person?

[Jadie Rose]

Ever had the "this isn't real. I must be making it up" thought pop into your head? Sometimes I j...

OMG it hurts sooo badly, and YES, that is exactly what happened. I just didn't want to believe it, I just came out to understand there are three disassociations, so far. I do not want to learn anymore about myself - that's enough - why can't I just get better now instead of anymore peeling the onion away? It's all too hard and no one I know live, in person, has PTSD so how the heck am "I" supposed to get through any of this on my own?? Never done anything this hard before.

 

[trying2movefwd]

@Jadie Rose
I am glad you are here for support. So thankful for this place

 

[EmmaOwl]

Can you fake crying at the drop of a hat, if you've never been much of a crier? Well I couldnt fake that, anyway :O_o:

When I was applying for disability, I had my own doctors send in forms, but I had to see THEIR doctor for an evaluation... It was mostly a cognitive-type testing and I left in tears, sobbing - I couldn't remember the 3 words he gave me at the start of the appointment (among other things). On top of being incredibly embarrassed, I was afraid he would think I was faking. Everyone I spoke to afterwards - couple family members, my therapist - was supportive, and said that the doctor would be able to tell the difference - that was his job. (End of the story: He did not think I was faking.)
Just my experience with this stuff. People told me there was no way I could have faked any of that, and they were correct.

 

[EmmaOwl]

Ever had the "this isn't real. I must be making it up" thought pop into your head? Sometimes I j...

Yes. Not so much that it isn't real, but things like: "It can't be that bad. It probably happens to everyone. I am being overly dramatic. Stop it!" I tell myself. And I can't stop it. I TRY like hell though and I'm gonna continue to try. But I think I first need to convince myself that it is real, and it IS a big deal, and that if I experience it as trauma, that it is trauma. Things like that.

It's a bad place to be in one's own head. You put it very well, @Jadie Rose ...

Why can't I just get better now instead of anymore peeling the onion away? It's all too hard

 

[J'qel]

The problem I'm seeing is a lot of you also have emotional abuse issues telling you that you're awful people. Don't listen to it. You're wonderful.

PTSD is a complex diagnosis, that, because of some of the side-eye it gets, practitioners are very cautious about using for a diagnosis. If you have been diagnosed, trust in your professional.

Honestly, the entirety of PTSD is so complicated, that anyone who could reliably "fake" it for longer than a hour or two, without a director, an acting coach and someone for consults, should be on Broadway.

 

[Teach]

I totally get this. About 6 months after I was diagnosed I "confessed" to my therapist that I was faking my PTSD symptoms. I see him weekly and was telling him that I could probably stop since I could still go to work I couldn't possibly have PTSD. He was pretty surprised to say the least but...he went through all my symptoms and described what he had observed in our sessions. He then said that in fact, I was pretty much a textbook case and he would have been able to determine that I was faking it a lot sooner if it was true. We've gotten into some deeper issues but I'm definitely improving after a year. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's normal to think that way.

 

[Jadie Rose]

I totally get this. About 6 months after I was diagnosed I "confessed" to my therapist that I was faking...

I get what you're saying, I came to realize I am actually scared of any medical professional saying I have PTSD and they are trying to keep me from thinking label-wise. It's hard because with disassociation, I am in full fight mode with them now and find it harder to even tell when I am disassociating past couple days (just don't want to believe I need to do any of this way too hard work). I hate this crap to tell the truth. I'm really glad to hear you are improving after a year, I sure hope I find that path soon, just as you have been able to.

 

[Teach]

I get what you're saying, I came to realize I am actually scared of any medical professional saying...

Go ahead and hate the hard work, just don't quit. Eventually, sooner than you think but probably not as soon as you want, you'll have a break through and a good day or even an hour. Doesn't matter the length of time because the relief in not sitting on it, denying it and just being able to breathe is worth it. Congratulations and keep at it.

 

[eloc]

I was accused of exaggeration in my workers comp medical evaluation and then they downgraded my PTSD to cured with just MDD now. So that got me researching and PTSD and MDD have different endicrinological signatures - PTSD HPA axis dysfunction includes suppressed cortisol response in overnight suppression test and low 24 hour urinary cortisol while these are both elevated in MDD. So turns out my endicrinological profile is for PTSD or PTSD comorbid with MDD but definately not for MDD alone. Basically insureres will fake whatever they like to lower a dollar payout for them and claim exaggeration when the biology does not lie - science is gradually creeping around to including biological markers for PTSD but in reality these have been confirmed since as long ago as 2002. Rachel Yehuda at Mt Sinai has done much of the research if you care to search it up but some stuff is coming out in endicrinology papers now not just psychiatry.

 

[Deleted member 34328]

@Jadie Rose I get it. These responses are really encouraging and insightful.

I recently had to sit for a police detective regarding a separate trauma than what "gave me" PTSD. I very badly did not want PTSD to be acknowledged for fear that my issue might be disregarded or minimized. I didn't want it to come up since it had absolutely nothing to do with why I was there.

I actually tried to fake NOT having PTSD :wideeyed:. Didn't work even a bit. The detective knew in less than 10 minutes that I was keeping something back. I saw no ulternative than to admit it.

I highly doubt that as much as we tell ourselves we're faking it, a trained eye will see through. Probably won't take long either. Same thing for someone who is trying to fake it. They might fool family members or friends, but not someone who really knows what they're looking at.

It wasn't funny at all when I tried to be fake, but I guess it is rather amusing based on this thread.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I 'm not sure why someone would want to fake PTSD

Usually for benefits. Like my dad tried for 100% VA disabilty. I'm sure many do for social security disabilty. My step mom's brother got disabilty by "faking to be crazy". He actually faked everything. Went in there with someone pushing him in a wheelchair. He had gone to a psychatrist and did a great job at pretending to have all sorts of stuff. He swears by that. If you are trying for disabilty to go to a psychritist and pretend to be "crazy".

I don't have to fake crazy as I am already that way.

But its generally for benefits of some sort.

And you can fake anything, very convincingly if you know enough about what you are faking.

 

[J'qel]

Faking "being crazy" is not the same as faking PTSD.

"Crazy" covers a multitude of attitudes and some are a bit easier to fake than others. Given that he'd have to simultaneously fake hypervigilance, depression, anxiety, triggers and keep all of it going simultaneously while memorizing and reacting properly to every trigger as well as self reporting... Let's just say I don't think he was given disability for PTSD. I'm going to refuse to make a guess, because that would be demeaning to those with other mental illnesses.