Can Being Cheated On And Finding Out Poorly Cause Ptsd?

[Nadege]

The worst thing in the world is to be in pain and not receive the help you need, and feel invalidated because people disagree about a diagnosis which is basically just a label... the important thing is that you receive the correct type of support for the symptoms you are going through.

I agree, even though like you, I tend to agree that what you have is most likely PTSD. There are no two minds that are exactly alike, and no two PTSDs that are exactly alike.

Getting help from a competent psychiatrist would likely be the best way to go.

The way I distinguish it in my head, is that PTSD is caused by something terrible happening that is out of the ordinary of day to day life. The something terrible was so terrible that it caused you to experience intense horror, fear and helplessness.

It's like the difference between finding out that your friend has died in a car accident vs. being present in the car with them and seeing the sights, hearing the sounds, smelling the smells of accident with the body of your dead friend lying slumped in the front seat next to you.

See what I mean?

But it's the same thing though! When the OP heard the news of betrayal, maybe there was water running at the moment. So now running water will trigger her and make her cry and freak out. The mind is stupid, it's just what it does.

 

[mamachick]

The highlighted symptoms look like "heartbreak" to me.

No, not all of the items need to be present, but it is the other criteria, such as an event that is a threat to life, that are missing.

If you come from a family of origin where trust was absent, where betrayal was present, etc, a situation such as a cheating partner can feel overwhelming and consuming. We may chose partners that are going to hurt us in a smiliar way as our family of origin (unconsciously), referred to as "unfinished business". We unconsciously repeat the patterns and the pain can be accumulative.

Do you have a therapist? If you do not, I would certainly consider finding one to help you sort this out. I dont know the length of this relationship or the other details, but the fact that it feels so severe to you and suffering these symptoms for 2 years is enough to suggest that you may be suffering depression. There is help out there to help you get past this and make self discoveries.

 

[Kaii]

I disagree, but opinions are like aresholes...everyones got one.

For me personally, I found a murdered girl stuffed in a garbage bag in the woods. I would be in a heck of a different place right now if I just heard about it on the news or read about it in the paper, as opposed to being there and opening the bag up and finding her naked body.

Don't you think?

 

[Ketrel]

I recommend reading this thread below:

I wasn't asking if I have it. I was asking if it's possible to have it.
I know what I can and cannot self-diagnose.

The highlighted symptoms look like "heartbreak" to me.

And yes, there's heartbreak, and I wasn't expecting it, it came completely out of nowhere.

Depression is another thing I'm considering, but a very bad diagnosis for me since I cannot go on anti-depressants.

 

[mamachick]

Having "triggers" is not excusive to ptsd. A person may smell bread baking and think of grandma's house. When I hear the song "the lion sleeps tonight" I think of 7th grade class. Triggers can be good and bad. Being cheated on does not cause ptsd.

 

[Ketrel]

Being cheated on does not cause ptsd.

Is that a guarentee?

 

[Nadege]

Don't take our word for it... seek help from a specialist.

 

[ericaboo]

I wasn't asking if I have it. I know what I can and cannot self-diagnose.

I totally apologize if attaching that thread made you feel further misunderstood - that was the opposite of my intentions. :(

I wish I could answer your original question, but I'm not sure anyone on this forum is qualified to really answer it. I'm not sure enough is known about PTSD to definitively answer the question. PTSD is a label created to categorize people's conditions to assist mental health providers in identifying the most likely effective treatment to help.

There are criteria written re: symptoms that could indicate possible PTSD, but from what I understand you can have two people with the same traumatic incident, and one will develop PTSD and another won't. So I don't think anyone can claim to know what can or can't cause PTSD.

There are certain things that are commonly observed to cause it, and I think that's what the posters on this thread are referring to. Just because a few of us haven't heard of it occurring the way you describe doesn't mean it can't possibly be caused that way.

With caring intentions,

-erica

 

[Kaii]

Is that a guarentee?

While I am not a doctor, I am only a nurse with PTSD but I do know that there must be some sort of threat to your or someone else's personal safety. The event is usually terrifying and leaves you feeling helpless. It is one that evokes intense fear and horror.

I just don't think that being cheated on fits into any of those categories. But I do think that you should seek counselling as you have not gotten past this and it's been two years.

 

[Ketrel]

Don't take our word for it... seek help from a specialist.

Something I'd want to do, if there was one I could afford. The reason I was asking was for something like
I'm getting plenty of vitamin c, and I think I have scurvy. Clearly not possible, so I shouldn't get tested for it. I wanted to know if it's something I can rule out.


I assure you all, finding out, hit me like a truck. It was completely unexpected.

 

[Kaii]

I vote no, but if you want more input ask Anthony. He's the Grand Poobah around here. He tells it like it is.

Good luck to you, I hope you find the closure you seek.

 

[catjudo]

Ketrel, I would recommend you tread carefully. People have given their opinions, yet you seem to want to argue that having PTSD from being cheated on is possible. If this thread is going to turn into an argument it will be closed.

I would recommend you review an article here on the forum about understanding PTSD. The file is attached to this thread: [DLMURL]https://www.ptsdforum.org/c/threads/understanding-ptsd-by-anthony-parsons.13878/[/DLMURL] Among other things, it states:

A person can quickly become confused in the belief that a PTSD diagnosis is merely meeting the symptoms, like a tick and flick list. In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth. A PTSD diagnosis requires that an abnormal traumatic life event is present, that a minimum symptom cluster is met, that the symptom severity meets a specific severity, the person meets certain physical attributes that will be displayed due to all the above, and the largest factor is everything combined ‘causes significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.'

There are people who claim they have PTSD from airplane turbulence, a bad marijuana trip, relationship breakdown or natural death of a loved one. None of these meet the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis