Advice needed, suspected cptsd

[Needingpeace]

Hi, I don't know if anyone can help.

As I write this I am sitting in a booth in a pub, where several people have come to sit nearby. I find I can't tolerate anyone sitting near me for some reason, and have also just had a long overnight coach journey with no sleep - again in close proximity to others. I feel constantly on edge and just wanting to be on my own, and am also extremely sensitive to noise. I have just had a horrible tenancy where I could hear the people below me coughing and talking (no noise insulation) and also had to put up with their cigarette smoke. I literally moved out yesterday, to a whole other city today where I am waiting to meet the new landlord for the keys, and have been under a severe amount of stress. The only way I feel able to cope is if I am entirely on my own/not near the general public and it worries me - I am not able to share a flat for instance. I am extremely sensitive to 'vibes' and cannot stand people who stare or talk loudly on their phones or near me - particularly if they have 'shouty' voices. Does this sound like it might be cptsd? There is also a previous history of noisy private rentals with paper thin walls and I just feel like my wheels are falling off so to speak

 

[digger]

Does this sound like it might be cptsd?

Have you experienced any trauma prior to these symptoms?

 

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

I was just about to ask what digger said.

We can’t diagnose you’d 100% be better off going to the doctor and being referred to mental health services. Nothing that you said screams PTSD to me. But you’ve been kinda vague. In the meantime I’d recommend learning some coping skills and maybe look into prolonged exposure for the noise and people anxiety.

 

[Needingpeace]

I was with a sociopath for 5 years and the fall out from that relationship was flashbacks, heightened adrenaline, disassociation and staying up all night feeling 'wired' (there's a proper term for this too). I felt sort of unwound as a person, I also went through trauma bonding. On top of that my Father was emotionally abusive and I my Mother has narcissistic tendencies. I have never had a stable home as an adult and have gone from one disastrous private rental to the next. I went to Drama school and prior to that felt I could function more, but the Drama school training also added to the trauma as we studied emotional recall/Stanislavski where I repeatedly relived my Grandmother's death.

I have been disassociating a lot whilst living at the last place I rented - things like pretending I was someone else and also having fake phone conversations to just have the feeling of speaking to someone

 

[Deleted member 8714]

@Needingpeace you need to find a doctor to diagnose you and then find a trauma therapist to treat you. PTSD develops from "exposure to a stressful event or situation of exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature, which is likely to cause pervasive distress in almost anyone."

 

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

Are you in therapy? I’m sorry your struggling right now.

Sounds like isolating isn’t working out for you anymore. Do you have any other coping tools?

 

[UnicornSightings]

Hi, I don't know if anyone can help.

As I write this I am sitting in a booth in a pub, where seve...

Holy crap, you sound just like me and I’ve felt so dang alone! I have yet to read the other responses but I have c-PTSD. If what you describe is a part of it then that’s amazing! I mean, sucky for both of us but amazing that there’s a reason! I can’t stand to be around people although I try to force myself to be but I hate it. I’m so uncomfortable around others and their habits bother me immensely.

 

[Anarchy]

Hi Needingpeace

Welcome to the forum.
Hoping that your stress levels have eased a bit. Moving house is always stressful, and yeah, yucky long distance couch travel... not good.

Yes, I think that cPTSD or something of that ilk would give you a sort of working title to get started with.

I'don't better explain that there are a bunch of different intellectual frameworks / paradigms on the go.

This is no criticism of other people here, but the dominant approach in the united state, is a medial model, where seeing a doctor gets you an appointment with a psychiatrist, who diagnoses. With the diagnosis the health insurance will then pay for drugs and or therapy.

Implicit in that is a strong assumption that what is wrong is something chemical, rather than what life experiences you've had, and that the cure involves drugs...

OK, In Britain, you can try the medical model, which depends strongly on the gp you get to see, and their opinion of you. It might be good, but most likely consists of ssri anti depressants, that are indistinguishable from a placebo, but have a bunch of nasty effects and are shits to get off
You might also get some bog standard basic CBT. The NHS answer to everything psychological. Which, for your urges to isolate might be pretty good.

There's also the option of seeing a therapist either privately, or through a charity,

Depending on the therapists background, "diagnosis" might not be important, for example "transactional analysis" specifically avoids stigmatising and pigeonholing people with labels.

The forum here has a lot of useful stuff in the threads, and people who really do understandwhat it's like.

Narc mother's are bad news! And yeah they do set us up for finding abusive relationships. Really sorry that you had such a long time in a bad relationship.

I hope that you are getting established in your new city!

Hoping that this helps and sorry for the late reply, I've just found this thread

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