- Admin
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anthony
Founder
I want this information to hopefully help those who believe they can self diagnose PTSD to understand the greater limits of what you're attempting to do. The Internet itself is a great tool, though it's also a very dangerous tool at the same time. The reason for this is due to the ease in which information can be found. Combine this with the human instinct of self belief, and when applied to medical matters, becomes a major issue. People often read and believe what they read is right, or when they read it they can find distinguishable aspects of what they read within themselves.
This doesn't just apply to PTSD, instead it stems across all medical aspects of self diagnosis. If you cut your finger with the knife whilst preparing dinner, you can diagnose that injury, being a cut. Common-sense says apply a bandaid. Some people however may then go searching, find some rare illness or disease that is linked to cutting oneself with a knife. What you did was an accident, though suddenly your brain wants more, it wants attention, so when interpreting, knowledge can be confused with something you don't even have. Its called hypochondriac and malingering.
The simple facts are: people often want something to be wrong with them, when in fact there is nothing wrong or something very much the lesser is actually wrong. PTSD is becoming more known now across the globe. The recognition the illness is attracting due to soldiers on deployment is bringing all sorts of good and bad attention to the disorder. The good is the publicity of what it is and is not. The publicity though also allows once again the human brain to listen or read information, then believe that fits themselves. For the very minor few, it actually may do so; however, you cannot self diagnose PTSD, period. It cannot be done.
The first thing with diagnosis of any mental illness is the cautionary statement, most of which self diagnosed individuals simply do not read or discard, again... the brain believes what it wants to believe:
Now, some may think that statement exists in an attempt to stop self diagnosis. Well...IT DOES. It is a precautionary warning to stop people from telling themselves something that they may then believe, when in fact they likely do not have that illness. PTSD does not encompass only the written criteria that so many read; it is far beyond that scope. The written criteria is only a guide, it is not: meet x, y and z symptoms and you have PTSD. It doesn't work that way. There is a poll upon this forum which outlines the very dangerous activities that some members and non-members of this forum engage in self diagnosis. PTSD is actually not diagnosed by meeting the symptomatic criteria, it is diagnosed by meeting the first two criterion along with the outcome from specific mental health assessments that are completed upon assessment, which determine whether you meet the criterion. Its not the other way round.
There are three main anxiety disorders that a person could fit, PTSD being the last one and least chance of actually fitting under self diagnosis:
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Acute Stress Disorder and
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
The most significant difference between criteria are the physical aspects, and those are not mentioned upon the readily available and Internet search-ready webpages/sites. These can only be gauged whilst face to face with a qualified physician who is trained to identify trauma. Not only must they be qualified, they must be experienced, otherwise they can get it wrong between the two, acute and PTSD. One is curable, one is not. Acute is curable because the physical chemical imbalance and brain damage has not occurred, where PTSD the brain is physically changed through a chemical imbalance, which makes the illness treatable, not curable.
Absolutely massive difference between the two, none of which can be self diagnosed by reading a list of symptoms.
My advice for those who self diagnose: you must seek medical advice immediately through an experienced trauma physician in order to determine whether you have PTSD or instead just need some counselling and therapy in order to get back into life. Healing can take the same time, but they are far from the same illnesses. People want to sometimes feel like they have the worst of something, when in fact they are often fooling themselves with any self diagnosis. You cannot self diagnose; please understand that and seek professional guidance immediately.
