Can You Get Ptsd After Years Of Meth Use?

[Kristina8387]

I am trying to figure out if you can get PTSD after using meth. I have been praying and I use medical marijuana. But after 3 years of being clean off meth. My mental way of thinking is like if I am still stuck in the drug world. I am constantly worried of my husband doing the same things that he used to when we used. But not just that, I am having a hard time dealing with family life being a stay at home mom and being around people my anxiety and depression get so bad sometimes that I have to have my house dark and I won't leave all day. Sometimes my days are so bad that all I can do to get through my day is cry and pray. I am wondering if I have PTSD. I am pretty nervous to ask a Dr. Cause I don't like taking pills that and they might think that I am silly to even think that I could have PTSD. Any information will help thanks.

 

[desiderata310]

It's probably with talking to a therapist. Might or might not be PTSD but it sounds like something that could be helped. NOT necessarily with drugs.

 

[digger]

There is an exclusion in the DSM diagnostic criteria that rules out PTSD specifically from drug use

Criterion H: exclusion
Disturbance is not due to medication, substance use, or other illness.

It sounds though that you could very much do with some help and support for the things you are struggling with.

I am pretty nervous to ask a Dr. Cause I don't like taking pills that and they might think that I am silly to even think that I could have PTSD. Any information will help thanks.

I hear your concern re. doctors, I think rather than asking a doctor if you have PTSD or any other specific disorder, I think it might be more helpful to you to go and explain the difficulties you are facing day to day and take it from there, or to look for a therapist. Did you have any therapy while getting off the meth?

Well done for getting clean by the way.

 

[Kristina8387]

Thanks. No help for getting clean from therapy. Just God. But it's so hard for me to even get to a Dr. I had depression before meth. But now I have anxiety and depression even worse than before I used. I went through some really hard things during my use of meth. Maybe it wasn't the meth that traumatized me but the situations I went through while on it. Sometimes it's easier to talk to a stranger instead of family or a Dr.

 

[AlyssaL92]

Marijuana use will keep your mind in that realm. I know from personal experience.
Medical use or not, it's still a narcotic and over time will certainly cause anxiety and depression in most people.

 

[Gs172003]

Welcome. Congrats on getting clean!

 

[Fadeaway]

Meth destroys the chemical receptors in the brain because you are flooding your brain with chemicals. It takes many many years for them to come back.

 

[Sideways]

I went through some really hard things during my use of meth.

This. If ptsd comes out of situations like this, it tends to be either something that happened prior to the drug use, which meth would have been a coping tool for, or the kinds of things that can happen when a person finds themselves living the meth-life. You alluded to stuff your boyf used to do when you were using - you don't have to elaborate (but it's okay if you want to). You may not even remember at this point.

Either way, right now, probably no one can give you a definitive answer about the ptsd. Because your reality, right now, is that life has just become way too hard. Much harder than it needs to be with proper support and coping tools.

I would encourage you to seek out a T for those reasons, to make life easier and (you may not believe this) but actually worth living and enjoying. At some point, that may include looking at why the drug abuse became your life in the first place, and dealing with the aftermath. It may or may not be that there is a history of trauma hidden away under all that that needs healing in due course.

But right now? The level of depression and anxiety you're describing- life could be so much better for you. That's what you focus on now. Because even if you did know that there's a massive trauma in there that you need to deal with, the priority right now is taking care of you. Getting you back to a place where life has meaning, fulfillment, enjoyment, and the day to day just isn't so awful and hard.

 

[joeylittle]

@Kristina8387 - what led you to trying meth in the first place?

Even if the answer is as simple as you felt bad and were looking for how to feel better - then it's important to first focus on that - the pre-meth days.

You can't get PTSD from meth. You can really mess up your brain. And like @Fadeaway said, it can take years for things to rebalance. Meanwhile, therapy would probably help, no matter what - to work on how you can get some relief from the negative stuff you are feeling right now.

 

[Gaining-clarity]

It's a really big deal to be clean from meth. I praise God.

You might want to consider getting off of marijuana too. I know from experience that it messes up the thought processes, leads to being overwhelmed and dissociated from reality. It's not healthy. If God can help with meth, He can help with all things.

I don't know your medical reasons for taking medical marijuans, but I know from experience that you can't really heal until you can handle your emotions without substances. You have to start with a mind that isn't being influenced by drugs.