Casual Use Of Term Ptsd

[Joan]

I am so frustrated at the term PTSD and flashbacks thrown around casually. Specifically at the moment a sibling who says he has symptoms of PTSD hanging on after a hospitalization. I am not saying it is not possible for him to have it, but he has never been diagnosed...his only complaint is he wakes up from nightmares of not being able to breathe. His daily life is not affected he says...well...from those of us who truly suffer from PTSD...it affects daily life. I know in varying degrees...but has definitely changed how we live or try to survive life. I have come so far in learning to manage and am proud of that, but life is so limited. Life is so hard. It just really hurts when PTSD is casually thrown around...or that someone has flashbacks. If you only knew what it was like to really live with these you would not claim to have them.

Sorry just a rant and thought I would vent to people who get it.

 

[Chava]

I've heard people say they were having "flashbacks" when they were probably bad memories. Yes, too casual.

I don't know what your brother's situation is, or if he was in the hospital with a near-death situation. Could be an acute stress response. His stress is probably very valid, so if there's a way to acknowledge that and suggest he go talk to a psychologist if he really has markers for PTSD...? But it might be helpful to validate his stress and understand that there is a broad spectrum of stress and even trauma reactions, and that doesn't mean he has PTSD necessarily, but it also doesn't mean he wasn't affected by his experience.

 

[arfie]

Yea, I get irritated when slang starts slinging slime all over serious issues, but... I don't think I would wish the real PTSD on anybody. Not even for the crime of a slangy refrain.

Hope it doesn't make you feel invalidated, Joan. Slang will be slung.

For what it's worth, I learned the term, "Flashback" in reference to literary and film techniques. That was the only context I heard it in for most of my 60 years. I was surprised when I heard it called a symptom.

 

[Karen12]

I think that's inevitable once a word or phrase gets into the general population. It's frustrating but remember that their misuse doesn't change what you have experienced and are dealing with.

 

[Sighs]

In the same vein, if I hear footballers called warriors or a game described as a battle one more time I may be sick.

 

[Fadeaway]

I break down into angry tears every time i hear someone say they have PTSD due to their birth experiences such as one article I read where the woman claimed she had PTSD because she revived an episiotomy with out knowing because she had an epidural. Sorry, that may not be ideal, but you can't get PTSD from that.

I am a bit sensitive over birth PTSD connections due to the fact i did have such a horrific experience including a suicide and 2 other deaths, believing my daughter was dead for whole 16 hours that I dissociated for an entire year.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Quite annoying when the experience of ONE symptom leads to "I have PTSD". So he has nightmares? Whoop Dee doo! Lots of people have nightmares. Next time say "aren't you being a little dramatic? A few nightmares does NOT make for a debilitating disorder!"

 

[Sighs]

I'm aware of a case where a patient claimed to have developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (despite not meeting the diagnositc criteria for this controversial diagnosis) in her left leg following a chiropractic manipulation of her right ankle. When questioned about that she claimed it was a "mirror image" issue. Never explained what she meant by that. And then sued a hospital for failing to diagnose her. Despite the fact that there is no accepted treatment for CRPS so she alone knows what they should have done about it had they diagnosed her...

Sorry - a little off topic but my point was self diagnosis is a bad idea. "Pop psychology" means too many people claim to have a diagnosis when in fact they have no such thing. Dr Google has a lot to answer for...

 

[anthony]

Yes, it seems the world cannot differentiate between post-traumatic stress, and a disorder, let alone sole anxiety, depression and mood symptoms, after something unfavourable in their life.

We see this often here... it's the buzz word of the last few years in mental health. This is why we see people coming here claiming PTSD after separating from their partner, from a bad drug trip and other such aspects of life.

 

[Intrepid]

Pop psychology. That true. I've been badly hurt by pop psychology. It's not all harmless.

At the same time, when people have gone through something difficult they try to put words to it to make it better. I know PTSD is used in many cases when it doesn't apply. But not all therapists/doctors get the right diagnosis the first time. I would think self diagnosis is harder to get right.

I have found for me that if I challenge someone who may have made a mistake describing their problem, without providing a better explanation, I often just leave them hanging. Better to have an inadequate definition that can change later than to leave someone lost with no explanation at all.

 

[Intrepid]

I had to be very sure of my problem before I came on this forum. I am not very good with getting challenged. If I failed to describe the complete nature of my PTSD then anyone here could have diagnosed me with something else. Then I would have fallen apart.

And I have in the past provided a poor description of my problems, and been dismissed as isolating too much. My therapist at that time was burned out and had no patience to watch me struggle, or to talk about things that weren't on the surface the right problem.

 

[anthony]

Nobody here diagnoses anyone... just FYI. The only thing anyone here can do, is tell you whether or not a trauma meets criterion A.