Can You Get Ptsd From "everyday" Problems?

[SinceAChildPTSD]

Right, @ghotiff, so I guess Complex PTSD would be more accurate for my speculation

 

[Glenn R.]

........Now there is growing awareness that PTSD can also result from an accumulation of many small, individually non-life-threatening incidents. To differentiate the cause, the term "Complex PTSD" is used. The reason that Complex PTSD is not in DSM-IV is that the definition of PTSD in DSM-IV was derived using only people who had suffered a single major life-threatening incident such as Vietnam veterans and survivors of disasters.

As someone correctly diagnosed with C-PTSD (which fortunately has been included in the DSM-V) I completely agree with the above 100 percent, and my own experience bears me out;

When I turned three, my mother brought me to a nursery school. I began having major separation anxiety. In fact, I was completely terrified as if my life was being threatened and started to act out as a result. Within less than a week, I was expelled -- yes, thrown the f*ck out at that ripe old age.

This turned out out to a huge warning sign, which my parents (and society at the time) didn't pick up on, and a pattern began. I struggled with peers and teachers from the first grade on. I was constantly ridiculed in front of entire classes, which just caused me to act out that much more.

Decades later, I learned I had all the symptoms of ADHD, which was not an official diagnosis back in the '50s and '60s when I grew up. So instead of receiving psychotherapy and the proper medication, I was dealt a steady dose of humiliation. It was a vicious cycle, indeed!

From the time I became a young adult, I began experiencing a string of traumatic episodes, which culminated with a near plane crash that we were all convinced was going to happen and kill us. That was the proverbial straw that broke this camel's back!

A major tenant of Psychiatry since Freud dictates a person's personality, as well as their level of emotional stability, is completely predicated on their mind's development during the first three years of your life, especially with respect to the right sphere of the brain, which is responsible for emotions and intuition. The onus, therefore during that period is not on the kid, but rather his parents or whoever was raising him.

Although I didn't have PTSD at three, the disorder's roots were firmly planted then.

 

[Mit]

I struggle with these sorts of definitions, but they must be helpful to aid diagnosis and treatment. For years I denied I had any problems, primarily because I didn't believe my own experiences could be classed as trauma, and therefore justify my behaviours. For better or worse my behaviours finally forced the issue into the open and I had no choice but to accept I needed to get help. I guess in hindsight I wish I hadn't worried so much about justifying my need for help, and just sought it out. As it turns out it could have saved me from more trauma later in life.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Actually, it is recognized that you can get PTSD from "low" trauma such as "normal" bullying.

Nope, you're wrong. You can NOT get ptsd from NORMAL bullying! Please stop googling ptsd in an attempt to figure yourself out! The ptsd from bullying comes from EXTREME bullying ie threats which compromise your safety on an ongoing basis, physical assaults, etc.

The dsm stands as is. If your bullying is severe and rises to a criterion A trauma then yes it can be ptsd. Otherwise no.

Ps it's a bit rude to come on here and claim ptsd for normal events given what so many of us have been through .

 

[Suzetig]

As someone correctly diagnosed with C-PTSD (which fortunately has been included in the DSM-V)

While there is a diagnostic criteria for PTSD which shares some of the characteristics of C-PTSD( eg dissociation) to my knowledge complex PTSD wasn't included in the DSM-V.

 

[Neverthesame]

I don't get it, why?
Why on earth would you want this?

If I were in your shoes, asking the people here whether or not it was possible to develop ptsd from a non-critereon-A cause. Then was told no, my reaction would be "oh, that's a relief".

Have you really looked at the symptoms, and scope of this condition? It's horrible. @Solara is absolutely correct, it is quite rude to come here ask for the people here to provide you advice. Then throw it back in their faces when you don't get the answer you want.

Sorry to break it to you lad, this isn't some kind of exclusive club. There is no secret handshake, uniform, discount card for groceries or a free ride through life.

I sympathize with the fact that you have to deal with anxiety, ocd and a unhappy school career. I do sincerely hope you find the help you need.

Oh and don't believe everything you read on the Internet. I would suggest in the future you should investigate your sources. It doesn't take much to make a pretty and professional looking website. I also highly recommend leaving the assessment and diagnosing of psychological illness to professionals. There is significantly more to diagnosis, than ticking check boxes on a list.

 

[Pencil]

so I guess Complex PTSD would be more accurate for my speculation

Nope.

I am already seeing a good psychiatrist. My official diagnoses are Generalized Anxiety and OCD

Then why don't you believe your psychiatrist? You have been diagnosed. There is no point in trying to argue yourself into a diagnosis.

 

[joeylittle]

Obviously, rebukes will keep on coming and this child will receive an increasingly negative reputation - some justified and some unjustified. Ultimately, the amount of unjustified rebukes add up and so does the shame. Negative memories bring extreme anger, stuttering and avoidance.

I think the clinical term for all this is "really shitty childhood". Many people have them, unfortunately. I can identify, my childhood (when I look back on it) was a really big mess, and I can see how events there shaped most of my beliefs about myself, all of which are negative. I want to commend you on recognizing that the treatment this child (you, I'm assuming) received was not justified, and caused damage. Being able to see that is a really important part of what some therapists call "re-parenting" - essentially, re-building your sense of self from childhood on up.

But no, it's not going to cause PTSD or C-PTSD. These experiences were not big-T Trauma. This term isn't up for debate, it is medically defined.

And how do they (the faceless 'they) get to make that decision, that your traumatic childhood doesn't 'qualify' as PTSD-level trauma? Much of it is based on how extreme the subjective experience of the sufferer needs to be in order to induce a 'fear memory'; fear memories trigger the same physiological response one had at the time of the trauma, and that response is one of complete helplessness, terror - the absolute inability to cope.

it is recognized that you can get PTSD from "low" trauma such as "normal" bullying.

This quote has been picked apart already, I'd just like to add - big-T Trauma (the criterion A traumas) aren't scaled 'high' to 'low', because the neurological effect is the same on the brain regardless. And so, the very notion that there is such a thing as 'lesser' trauma that can lead to PTSD is the same as saying a badly sprained ankle should be treated like and will heal like a broken one. It's a good example because, in terms of pain, healing time, etc, bad sprains and breaks are actually each very difficult in their own way. one is not medically worse than the other - but they are altogether different physiologically.

Believing really awful things about yourself that were instilled in childhood and re-inforced through bullying in adolescence - well, that is honestly an awful thing to have to come to terms with as an adult. And harder still if you have co-morbid diagnoses, like OCD and GAD, as you mention. There's probably a cognitive connection there between the GAD and those experiences. You have work you need to do in order to build your identity.

None of that means you have PTSD, or are even helped by thinking you have PTSD.

Just because it's traumatic - that doesn't make it PTSD. Putting a bad sprain in a cast isn't going to properly heal the sprain. It's likely to set the healing back. Ditto for putting a break in a support wrap and doing physical therapy.

 

[Chava]

Can you get PTSD from everyday problems? No. Thank goodness. The entire human race would quit functioning.

We humans are designed to handle stress...we actually have endocrine and nervous system components doing this for us all the time. A loved one dies, a relationship ends, someone is mean to us, we lose a job, we break a leg, the washing machine breaks down....we all deal with every day problems and even big stressors. These do NOT cause PTSD. PTSD is caused by a "trauma" (fundamentally overwhelms all of these systems). There are other conditions that involve dysregulation and ability to tolerate basic stressors, such as autism spectrum, anxiety, and depression.

I think it's important to know that we all have stress and we are designed to manage, even if it takes a while to bounce back. Sometimes I notice on here that bad memories are mistaken for "flashbacks" or even depressive rumination. I also think sometimes people look for a target or cause for their current anxiety or stress, which is understandable to a point, but a wrong diagnosis is certainly not the way to go.

So it sounds like you already have a diagnosis. Are you looking for a target or "cause" of your generalized anxiety or where is this coming from? You talk about everyday problems, then switch to bullying, so your story doesn't seem clear...which makes me think there is some other reason you want a disorder like this (which I really don't understand, but maybe you could answer that for yourself instead of allow yourself to fool yourself)

 

[anthony]

Actually, it is recognized that you can get PTSD from "low" trauma such as "normal" bullying.

Actually, no it is not. Those diagnosed with PTSD from bullying, you will actually find that the bullying was anything but "low" or "normal" and when you talk to those bullied and have PTSD from it, you will hear beaten repeatedly, threatened death, sexual assault, assault, torture and so forth, all within their details.

Some normal schoolyard bullying is just that, normal. Name calling, a few fights during school years, pushed around on occasion, so forth. That is normal and expected within school... being sexually violated, beaten regularly, hospitalised, tortured and so forth... not normal. It is the exception that falls into this category, not the rule.

 

[anthony]

From bully online...

That information is far from accurate... anything but accurate, in actuality. It is personally biased towards an agenda and cause, and does not state what is stated within the texts themselves.

PTSD is not meant for single event trauma. Never stated that in the DSM IV and doesn't in the DSM V. There has never been anything relating to PTSD = single event. People keep confusing PTSD with trauma. They are two different things. Complex PTSD has nothing to do with compounding minor life events, as bully online have completely made-up as though fact. Read the facts from the experts, not from some half arsed agenda website.

This website has plenty of references to the experts, citing what they cite, not making up nonsense to suit our cause. People need to stop reading third party nonsense, such as bully online, and read the experts. Bully online have no idea about PTSD vs cPTSD.

 

[SinceAChildPTSD]

@joeylittle thanks man