How Can One Accurately Gauge The Severity Of His/her Ptsd?

[Away From The Sun]

Some days I feel perfectly fine. Some days I feel anxious and depressed (barely coping but hanging on). Some days I feel like I can't hold it together and on the verge of a breakdown (when I get stressed out). Most days I feel content (not sad or happy... just blah... going through the motions).

I keep reading that the symptoms have to be relatively SEVERE for it be actual PTSD but how does one tell if it's severe enough?

Do most of us come off relatively "normal" but internally, it seems like a rollercoaster?

 

[The Albatross]

It is/can be a roller coaster. But I frame the question differently, "How well am I managing my PTSD?"
Severe enough for what?

 

[NarcSis]

I have PTSD. I was diagnosed 5 years ago. I don't really know what this proverbial "Healed" looks like that I keep hearing people talking about - sometimes even wonder if I'm what would be considered "healed".

I manage from day to day, which essentially means, I can feel good for brief periods (days/weeks) with only the occassional bouts of anxiety, fear, trauma triggers and crying episodes.

I note that as my stress levels increase, I don't function as well, the symptoms increase and I am more suceptible to depression, mood swings, anxiety and difficulty concentrating. In those situations I essentially lay low and try to lower my stress levels.

I don't know what "healed" is but if this is it, you can pretty much count me as severely disappointed.

 

[I Can Do This]

I think the definition comes down to how much it interferes with your life and if you are isolating yourself.

It is a roller coaster. The more you heal, the smaller the hills become. And yes, most of us come off normal most of the time.

PTSD is an injury, not a mental illness. So when you are triggered, it takes a long time to bring your nervous system back into balance. The more tools you have to manage your triggers and responses - the faster you get back your equilibrium.

 

[Away From The Sun]

Severe enough for what?

Severe enough to be actually considered PTSD.

I got a formal diagnosis of PTSD a couple months ago but the more I read here, I started to think, "maybe my trauma is not severe enough to warrant such a diagnosis?" "My symptoms don't seem to as severe as a lot of folks here". I mean I rarely get flashbacks/nightmares, my memories are real faint and my "triggers" don't seem to elicit as strong of a reaction as when I was a kid (I still react but it's just a little-moderate amount of anxiety and go on with my day).

Sometimes I feel like a fraud for being diagnosed with PTSD.

 

[The Albatross]

In my case it's been a matter of either complacency or how bad I want to fight (my own impulses and compulsions) for it. I just changed my signature to "Nearer to normal than ever before"... "normal" is where I put myself in the bell curve, but I am managing very well.

If you think you are misdiagnosed get a second opinion. But if you fit Anthony's well founded criteria... it becomes all about how you manage your life and post traumatic growth.

 

[I Can Do This]

Medic72 - Hi! I think your post describes what most people feel much of the time.

One thing I know is that we heal our "stuck memories" and let them move out of our body. Once out - they cannot affect us to the same degree they did (often they don't affect us much at all anymore).

But I think the difference is - we heal each memory/trauma/trigger - but we aren't cured. There is no one time cure for this - it is a process and the more tools you have that allow you to "heal" a memory or trigger, the better you function and the more distance there is between rough days.

I've been working with SE therapy for the last 10 months and feel stronger than I have in my whole life - I'm 49! It took getting the RIGHT kind of help for this. IMO traditional therapy can't cut it with PTSD.

 

[Away From The Sun]

medic72,
That's how I have experienced things for most of my life. I can feel good for a few months but when the stress accumulates, my world starts to crumble and I have to fight with all my willpower to get stuff done.

I Can Do This,
Thank you. I never thought of it that way. Especially when i was younger, when i was upset, no matter what anyone tried to do, they could not calm me down... I would cry and scream for two or more hours. Also, I have always had a difficult time getting close to people so isolation is a biggie.

The Albatross,
You're right. I can stay complacent and deny it or accept it and fight it. I honestly can't pinpoint what exactly "traumatized" me... only speculate. Plus, all of my memories would be in another language and culture that I forced myself to forget. The only thing i can really do is try to do the best with what I have, right?

Dang. all my responses illustrate my failed attempt at denial... I guess it's hard to get out of the comfort zone because it seems so normal... until you actually analyze it.

 

[The Albatross]

There is a page here for the criteria for PTSD. It is apt and pretty astutely accurate. I have a lot of blank spots, and had the symptoms before I had some of my memories. Learn some coping skills, they work for adversity as well as trauma.

Yes. All you can really do is try with the best you have... and if something new appears, adjust your sails accordingly.

 

[I Can Do This]

Sometimes I feel like a fraud for being diagnosed with PTSD.

Honestly, now that I know so much about it, I think everyone has a touch of it! So you are not a fraud, count yourself lucky that you are functioning but something must have made you seek some help. The good news is that now you have a support system to help you heal, and hopefully you will never have a life event that triggers you into a crisis.:tup:

 

[intothelight]

I really don't think anyone can "gauge" the severity of their PTSD, any more than we can gauge normal. The important thing is to get the treatment necessary that helps us be the best we can be every day. Each person is an individual, and treatment and recovery will vary from person to person.

I think that sometimes we can get so focused on "what is wrong" we forget to really take a good look at "what is right". It is important to try to be as objective with ourselves as we can be.

 

[WesternSky]

Sometimes I feel like a fraud for being diagnosed with PTSD.

This is exactly how I feel. I was diagnosed with PTSD several years ago, but now that I am functioning better, sometimes I question whether I was diagnosed formally or not (I can't remember the conversation) We were looking into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and EMDR but I never went through with it. Most days I am fine, and don't have the same severity of symptoms as many people on here. But things still happen that remind me that I'm not the same as I was and then I don't know where I stand. I feel guilty using this site sometimes and wish I had had a resource like this to turn to when I was having the worst symptoms. I feel guilty and like a fraud. I'm scared to write a therapy journal because I feel I don't deserve to and people will tell me I don't or shouldn't have PTSD and I should just get over myself. That I either never had it or that it's gone enough that I should be over it.