Do People Fake PTSD?

[Lethe]

God, why would people want to talk about it and admit it? I have a hard time even agreeing with my therapist that I have it. I always feel like I'm failing myself because I can't hold all in anymore. I always think "Why would people think that they can get sympathy for admitting this?" I know I always expect people to think I'm weak if I ever talk about this to them.

 

[Lavender]

I was reading one of the threads that had been moved to where the members are allowed to share, and I have some thoughts that I really want to share but I'm not allowed to speak in that area yet. That's really frustrating for me, and so I feel the need to do it here.

I read a few of the posts and it surprised me that, both at the beginning of the thread and at the end (the ones I read) no one had mentioned that there are different levels of PTSD. I haven't been here long, but I'm assuming no one here is a doctor or therapist. My concern is that people with the milder forms of the illness will feel shunned and leave because they feel "misdiagnosed" and out of place here when in fact they really do have PTSD.

One post said that some people faking the illness will try to make their experiences sound worse than they were so as to be believed. I'm afraid to talk about what happened to me for that very reason ... it was nothing short of hellishly horrific, and most of the time I'm shocked at how much I survived. My first psych eval was sent to my home (they don't do that anymore), and in it the doctor had said I was "malingering", meaning that I was trying to make my life sound worse than it was because I was afraid I couldn't work. He was an idiot. We'd talked all of an hour and he had barely scratched the surface of what caused this illness in me, and yet he accused me of lying because he couldn't fathom someone going through what I'd told him about.

After more than 10 years of psych evals done for both the Dept. of Vocational Rehabilition and SSI, they all finally put it together ... not only were my "stories" always the same, but more was being revealed as each doctor would bring more out.

I read one war vet saying he couldn't believe vets of a "milder" war have PTSD. Hello? I can't believe that killing people is any easier in one war than it is in another, or seeing friends die is any easier. Is this a pissing contest on who has "the right" to have PTSD or is it a forum for healing?

Mostly I want to say that I'm not feeling altogether comfortable here today. I'm here looking for help and support, not to have to worry if I'm being judged as a "fake" or someone "misdiagnosed" (that would be a blessing, but I definitely have complicated, serious and chronic PTSD). Can I trust the people here or not? I don't trust people as a rule, so I have no idea if I'll be able to stay here or not.

 

[Xenu]

If PTSD is so trendy, the wanna-bes can have mine.

 

[Tiger Kitten]

That post am sure was not directed at anyone that has ptsd regardless of the severity or the cause.

There are people who do fake having ptsd though. People who will milk the system for sympathy or attention or whatever they can get from it. I think most of the hostility in that thread was directed at the fact that the people who do fake having ptsd are making it harder for the people who do have ptsd to get help and diluting the seriousness of this illness.

I have a lot of the same type of trust issues and from my experience so far and from the many many posts I have read there is no judgment. I haven't seen anyone say well my ptsd is worse then yours. Mostly from what I have seen the people here tend to support each other and help one another.

The post where the war vet said that the numbers of ptsd showing up after a milder war were very high. From my memory of that post (my memory isn't the best so I may get it wrong.), it was the numbers of people who were claiming ptsd that were disturbing.

There is a trend to over diagnose ptsd and the studies done on the people who have been misdiagnosed is a threat to ptsd sufferers. The studies to determine what treatment and what medication and the prognosis of ptsd are very important to me as a sufferer. I want to get better and frankly those people and psychiatric professionals that are diluting the studies are quite upsetting to me. The anger/frustration in that thread was most likely fueled by a similar reason.

We are all here for help and support. I have not seen anyone judged or ridiculed for being misdiagnosed or faking. Everyone is respectful and all of us are working on being able to cope with our symptems and living the best life we can.

I don't mean to speak for anyone other than myself so I apologize for overstepping if in fact I did.

Welcome to the forum.

Tiger

 

[Grainne]

I don't mean to offend, but I would suggest reading a few more threads (aside from the two you mentioned) before forming an opinion of the members here. There is a huge amount of support here and this site is clearly a place for healing if you have a look at the articles, resources and stories shared.

I understand your hesitation when trusting people as almost everyone here will, but no one will demand that you post personal information at any time. You don't have to share a thing to get benefits from this place. Read and share nothing until you know yourself if the members here are trustworthy or not....just a thought.

 

[onebravegirl]

When in a highly emotional state things can been read with more meaning than intended. You sound like you were triggered by what you read.
I have never read a single thread where people ever compared their pain to others. We are all extrememly considerate and repectful of one anothers painful injuries. You sound like the one who is measuring pain here not the other members. If this is the case you may not even be aware of you doing this. I suspect this because you mentioned that your struggle was measured in the past by so called proffesionals incorectly. This can make you more hyper-vigilan to remarks here.
The thread you are refering too was in defense of people using a mis-diagnosis for unhealthy reasons. It was not intended to compare those who have been properly diagnosed. Please know that you are welcome here. Trust comes with time and you have to give it time to learn the context behind peoples comments. This is yet another good reason why new members need to read more so than comment in the early days of being here. Just as you may have been triggered, so were some of those writting in that thread. If you take every comment as an attack on your own views, you will not be happy here. Everyone is at their own place and you have to respect that, just as I respect your right to disagree, the same is hoped for in return.
O

 

[Lavender]

Thank you to the three responses from Tiger Kitten, Grainne, and onebravegirl to my fear-based post. You know, it didn't even occur to me until I read your responses that deep down I was hoping someone would tell me to leave so I would have an excuse to keep running. It's been difficult not to re-open my World of Warcraft account and hide there. Gosh, I just love this illness. *sigh* Thank you for understanding. :)

I think the idea of reading many more posts in different threads is an excellent one, and so I'll be doing that. I saw the post on the cups showing how little room we have inside for bad stress, and I have almost no room. That's one of the biggest reasons I'm here. I have a granddaughter being born in June, my only grandchild, and I want to be healthier for her. I have to be.

Thank you again for your patience and kindness. :)

 

[Tiger Kitten]

It's always a good thing to be able to see where our responses come from. It's also a good sign that you can look inward and see what your motivation was. (Sometimes that takes me days.) Sounds like you have a lot of motivation to work on being able to cope better.

We may not all have the same trauma or the same symptoms, but there are a lot of similarities in the way this illness affects our lives. That's what I enjoy most about this forum. I don't feel quite so alone anymore. I don't feel like someone that is a freak of nature, and totally weird when I am here. I can relate to a lot of the posts and while I cannot always add advice or suggestions I can relate to the issues at hand. It's the little connections and the information and the coping strategies that keep me reading. For example, in your post just now. Hiding in World of Warcraft... I can relate to that. I hide there frequently. Besides this forum it's my only real connection to the world, because I am so symptomatic right now.

Tiger

 

[onebravegirl]

Your humble attitude will get you far with this PTSD. I think you will do very well here.
O

 

[useless]

I read one war vet saying he couldn't believe vets of a "milder" war have PTSD. Hello? I can't believe that killing people is any easier in one war than it is in another, or seeing friends die is any easier. Is this a pissing contest on who has "the right" to have PTSD or is it a forum for healing?

You are being dishonest by representing what I said in that manner. I did not say that at all. Go back read it for what it is and not what you wanted it to be. It's not about killing people and getting PTSD. There are a lot more horrible things in war than just killing someone. Which by the way is a soldiers job and he shouldn't sign on if he isn't ready to do it. Many thousands of troops in Vietnam were taken prisoner and tortured in ways that are hard to believe. The people that did make it home were spit on and assualted by their own countrymen. That did not happen in the Gulf war. The troops were treated as heroes and with respect by most people.

 

[fhawn]

This question Kiinda stired me up....Ive been living with this PTSD Stuff for years and people acutiuslly fake it....I id give anyrhing to make it go away...if they want it they can come take it from me anytime

 

[Jimmy]

Wow, this could be a discussion thread with legs, that will go on for days, and the great thing about this site is that everyone can have a say.

I am a medically discharged veteran who absolutely loved my job and would give anything to have it back, but reality does suck.

I have often pondered the same question, 'Do people fake PTSD'. In my opinion, I don't believe you can, especially if you are being seen by the myriad of counsellors/therapists, and psychiatrists that I have. Maybe in the early days when PTSD was in its infancy, but now I don't think so.

Here in Australia I was placed on the National PTSD course. This is an eight week part time course where they teach you about PTSD and the coping strategies.

The first day of the course I suppose was the worst. I was placed in a room with other people (all from the services), and the first question that was in my mind was 'I bet they are worse than me'. However; this was short lived as we were all taught that it does not matter what the root cause of the PTSD was, and what symptoms each person exhibited, it was the fact that we had all been evaluated to have PTSD.

As we look like normal people when we walk down the street, and on good days, don't exhibit any of the nasty symptoms, people have often asked my why I don't work, and tell me I am lucky that I don't have to work and get a pension for doing nothing. Well I concur and tell them exactly what 'fhawn' said.

I id give anyrhing to make it go away...if they want it they can come take it from me anytime

Jimmy