@Friday what is deregulation?
One of the core symptom clusters with PTSD… it’s the out of control mental/ emotional/ behavioral aspects.
As a mom? You’re used to seeing totally developmentally appropriate / needed-necessary-healthy (still obnoxious as f*ck) Dysreg… because you raised a toddler & teenager.
A toddler is learning to self-regulate for the very first time, meanwhile a teenager is learning to do it with hormones (YIKES! Fawking hormones >.< Whether it’s puberty or pregnancy or certain cancers, our hormones are seeeeeriously powerful critters that drop kick moods/thoughts into the stratosphere); as well as teens having an advanced ability to think/reason/argue. So, unlike a toddler you can just “Naptime!” or “EAT!” or “Time to run around!” or “Snuggles!” to deal with the Dysreg that follows being tired, hungry, or stressed/upset? Teenagers will just inform you that they are NOT hungry, tired, upset, etc. and their WILDLY OVERBLOWN MASSIVE OVERREACTION IS TOTALLY NORMAL/ REASONABLE/ RATIONAL AND HOW. DARE. YOU. SUGGEST OTHERWISE!!!
…and then they eat something, or take a nap, or the wind blows and be hormone surge settles, and they apologize
(if you’re lucky).
With PTSD? Dysreg is not only a part of a LOT of different symptoms, it actually forms it’s own symptom-cluster (that’s why it has a sub-forum here on the site!) made up moooooostly out of Criterions D & E.
Criterion D
Persistent negative alterations in mood or cognitions refer to thoughts such as, "I have always had bad judgement" "People in authority can't be trusted" "It's all my fault my Uncle abuse me" and such thoughts.
These criterion also shift towards cessation of activities that you once enjoyed and looked forward to, such as team sport, exercise or social events. You were once a happy, outgoing person, and now you can't feel happiness, joy, satisfaction, tenderness or intimacy with your partner.
Criterion E
Criterion E is quite behavioral, such as suddenly yelling at people, getting into fights, reckless or self-destructive behavior (dangerous driving or a sudden urge for extreme sports) excessive drug or alcohol use, self-injurious and suicidal behavior. Criterion E also covers threat potential, such as thinking you will have a heart attack at any time, will die or other accident waiting to happen. You may be jumpy, hyper-aware of your surroundings, suspicious of others and have a difficult concentrating, remembering simple things or even doing multiple things at once like you once could. This all often leads into sleep problems, sleeping a couple of hours nightly or changing your sleep patterns completely.
The big loud splashy Dysreg gets the most press (in general), because it’s exactly that, big/loud/splashy… and lashing out / self harm / suicide / paranoia / etc. is something
everyone notices… but it’s the quieter Dysreg (inability to feel or express joy or other emotions, crushing anxiety that keeps you in bed, being unable to lift yourself up, or calm yourself down, overreacting, underreacting, ruminating, intrusive thoughts, mood swings, brain fog, dissociating for no damn good reason (triggers, stressors, stresses, avoidance), etc.… the PTSD roller-coaster… that IME/IMO are sooooo debilitating on a day to day basis.
Crying… for a lot of people, not me!, but a lot of people… is a form self-soothing that is both self-regulatory (You feel better afterward, more towards your baseline) and a form of stress-management (cathartic / blows off steam).
With your StressCup maxing out & symptoms upticking in response to everything going on? It makes total sense that you would WANT to reach for a coping mechanism (crying) that both helps to manage your stress levels *as well as* being self-regulatory. Whilst at the same time? Symptom spiking Dysreg is making that a challenge at best, or impossible until you’re already lowered your stress levels, & can self-regulate enough to be able to lower them further.
Vexing as hell disorder, PTSD. Dude! The shit that makes me feel better, I can’t do until I feel better? WTFO?!?
It’s just such a useful and lovely symptom, isn’t it??? Grrr.
