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Can you be symptomatic yet pretty functional?

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Hi all.

I am just wondering, if someone can be symptomatic yet quite functional. My SO is working, going to the gym, being social, going to events, basically doing anything but staying at home.
Is it possible for him to be symptomatic and down? He does say, he feels down, worthless, dead inside, has no happiness etc etc. he gets flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive thoughts and other symptoms too. But I’m just wondering, is it possible to be quite functioning like he is yet be PTSD symptomatic?

Still quite new to PTSD so haven’t figured it all out yet.

Thank you
 
I think it is posible, i put on a mask when i go out. Nobody knows/sees what i am feeling or going through.
Going out, working and stuff like that also keeps my mind off things... maybe its avoiding idk.
Just have to watch out for "the big crash"... when i keep going like that i usually crash like i am right now.
 
He always does try to ‘find things to do’ so he doesn’t have to sit at home and think. Also as for working out and going gym, he feels really low about himself and he is very negative about himself. I think that’s the main reason why he works out.
 
It is possible. I have been what most would consider highly functional my entire life. I have had a successful career, raised my family and been symptomatic most of my life. I deal with panic attacks, intrusive memories, hypervigilence, isolation, self harm, SI and so many other symptoms that I hid for years. So yes it is possible I react and minimize and struggle for control with my PTSD and living what I hope appears is a "normal life" so that others don't see how broken I am.
 
Yep - I'm doing it right now. Hubby says I'm totally symptomatic, but I'm moving along with life. Remember - this is our normal. It runs in cycles, so sometimes it is worse but it is always there....
 
Gosh @BoyfriendqwithPTSD i felt like i was almost reading a description of me ! I was diagnosed with cptsd and in the most i function, A lot of people i know and socialise with and even family wouldnt know any different and certainly wouldnt see or know about the inner turmoil and demons. Im good at keeping up the facade and the exhaustion maintaining that facade causes. It was only when it became too much and nearly ended my relationship that i sought help and therapy. I have good days and bad days and am symptomatic and it always feels like im fighting - its just there .. its part of who i am.
It good that you are supporting your SO and this forum is a good place to get help and support. All the best .
 
Yep.

I’ve been highly symptomatic & highly functional.
I’ve also been lowly symptomatic & lowly functional.

Even though, for me, the inverse is more common... high functioning / low symptoms & vice versa... it’s an erosion kind of thing, in my experience. The longer I’m highly symptomatic the less functional I become, over time. During my good years, over a decade, I had a multilayered system of safety nets built into my life to snap me back from symptom crash. Also a series of ABORT / EJECT options, that I rarely used during my good years, but used a whole helluva lot during my first run of bad years. Layers, and layers, and layers of safetnets & then pull cord options to boot. Shrug. Hard lessons, well learned.

Better learned, now, as I lost them all several years back... didn’t understand their importance, so didn’t replace them... and crashed hard. Trying to rebuild them into my life, on purpose? Has been... challenging.
 
Definitely. For me, there are some combinations of symptoms that make me seem like I'm functioning better than normal. I'll be anxious, hypervigilant, and jittery, but it will have the effect of having me thinking faster and wanting to keep very busy. I went through a phase like this recently. On the outside, I seemed like I was doing great. I was volunteering a lot and had a full schedule every day. Something came up one day and I unexpectedly needed to stay home, and I broke down in the shower and was in there crying and dissociating for about half an hour. Up until that moment, no one would have guessed that I was symptomatic at all.
 
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