10 Years After Traumatic Incident. Still Haven't Told My Psych About It.

[TormentedSoul]

I had a very traumatic incident happen to me 10 years ago that changed my life into a constant internal struggle of:
- Anxiety
- Panic Attacks
- Flash Backs

But I've never told my Psych about it.

I do see one for Anxiety and Panic attacks, but never divulged the details why they are happening. The details are very difficult for me to talk about.

Is it too late to be diagnosed with PTSD?

I only have been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

The incident changed me into a person that is always very weary of people and never getting into a job I was passionate about before the incident happened.

 

[joeylittle]

It would depend on the nature of the traumatic event.

This article here: Post-Traumatic Stress DIsorder, will give you a good overview, and you may be able to at least suss out whether you have s qualifying trauma event.

Still - the only way to be diagnosed is to talk with your mental health practitioner.

 

[EveHarrington]

If you have a qualifying traumatic event, it's never too late to be diagnosed with PTSD. There is no cure so oftentimes without treatment it just festers and grows. I suggest telling your psych before you're looking back on life and kicking yourself for not taking the steps to heal. (I've seen stories where people do indeed wish they'd started healing sooner as they didn't seek help until later in life.)

 

[TormentedSoul]

I read through the article that you have provided and I think it's time my Psych about my traumatic incident.

I tried to tell my Psych 2-3 months ago but I just couldn't. I totally avoided it.

I became a different person after the incident.
I've become reclusive and unable to trust people.

I had a career path to follow in life before the incident happened and that all shattered afterwards.

I haven't had a stable job ever. I've been unemployed for years.

I just am just existing in the shadow of the trauma that keeps replaying in my head and causes all this Anxiety and Panic attacks.

 

[joeylittle]

Talking about it will be the first step towards addressing it - whether you've developed PTSD or not, it's clearly affecting your daily life.

Remember, they are there to help.

If you're worried you won't be able to say it out loud, write it down.

 

[TormentedSoul]

Living like this is horrible.
I wish I could re-live my life some other way without the incident happening.

 

[mamachick]

I agree, if you think you will avoid it again, just write it down and even leave it in sealed envelope with secretary if possible so you can't talk yourself out of it. You don't have to explain it all in writing, just that you need to address the issue. I know there are things that I still have not talked about, mostly because life just happens and there is too much, not avoidance, but know how easy it is to know that I need to talk about a particular subject but by the appointment time, its out of my head with overwhelm.

 

[Nevermore]

@TormentedSoul
No it's never too late - though the sooner you know what you're dealing with the better.
I was diagnosed cptsd after a trauma seven years ago - or a series of traumas. But I realise I probably walked a life of trauma reenactment. Some from childhood, but something that happened in my early 20s was what changed my life forever, and looking back I can see I had the classic signs of PTSD at that time.
so 30 years later, I look back and see the trail of destruction I walked since that event - and I wish I'd sought help / I wish I'd even known there was help!
PTSD can almost become a way of life and an identity of you don't understand what's happening to you or how to help yourself.
Many msny people walk around undiagnosed - simetimes for their entire life!! When I see people sleeping on the street I always wonder what their story is.
Undiagnosed doesn't mean you don't have it! I hope you reach out. I have found so much healing in the last few years because I sought it!
Wishing you well on the path to healing

 

[mamachick]

I do think that individuals react to diagnosis differently. About 25 yrs ago, I was only 34 and diagnosed with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, epstein barr virus and herniated discs with stenosis in my neck. I was exhausted and in pain. Having names for it helped me. It allowed me to learn how to pace myself and changed my priorities. I got better than I ever expected to. I got myself in better shape than if I did not have any medical problems, likely because of self care, pacing, priorities, better mental health practices, etc.

To be honest, when I was given a diagnosis of ptsd, I think I became stuck. I am not sure if it was actually being given the diagnosis, or how I was treated then and after. Somedays it feels hopeless even with a diagnosis and I wonder if I would be more hopeful if I just thought I had anxiety and depression. My physical health has declined horribly, and I really believe that I have something wrong like cancer that they just have not found. (I am embarrassed to say this. I know I sound like a hypochondriac and I know I am not). Another part of me does not believe this. I think I am just so beaten down that I feel like if I do one thing to be better, something bad comes from another direction so it makes no difference. (suffer negative thinking I know). The negative thinking meets the sense of foreshortened future, which is very persistent for me, and it is doom.

I hope that if you are diagnosed with ptsd, that you find the comfort that I know others have found to name it. I know it is helpful for some.

 

[Nevermore]

@brat17
Why do you think the diagnosis made it worse? I'm curious.
Is it the whole mental health world? Which I must agree - it stinks. Like any emotion that is not within a narrow range is viewed as dangerous.
I do not inhabit that world any more but I did and it hurt me.
I see an art therapist now and she has helped me more than I imagined was possible. There is still hope getting better from PTSD - with time, kindness and the right help

 

[TormentedSoul]

I go to therapy sessions and my therapist is always telling me that I just need breathe and it will help. They don't know how to help me.
The true context of why I suffer isn't known to them.

It's like a deep secret and my Psychologist keeps rescheduling appointments so I can't really get help with just my Generalized Anxiety. I know I have PTSD and have never talked about my incident to get diagnosed.

It's like I'm the one that doesn't hold any weight in their mental health office.
I'm the first one to ask to reschedule and I feel like they don't want to help me.

Just now a few seconds ago, I had an appointment to meet with the Psych and tell about my traumatic incident in less than a week.
The Mental health office called and made me reschedule to meet in 2 weeks just because they had a patient that needed to see the Psych before me because they just got out of the Mental hospital...

I'm sick of this. I want to get help, but my own Psych is doing things that makes it more difficult to actually get help.

 

[TormentedSoul]

I was ready to talk about it, but now I have to reschedule everything. It makes me doubt myself.
I had a Psychiatrist appointment set perfectly too, but not anymore.

This kind of stuff makes me hold back on telling them about my traumatic incident...weirdly enough. It feels like betrayal.