Do People Fake PTSD?

[TLight]

I've acted out before I was in treatment. I had so much repressed rage, it was coming out all over the place. Plus, I was being heavily triggered during those times, so the stress chemicals were coursing through my body constantly. When you are in that condition, you are either going to kill yourself or become a screaming me me eventually. For me, well, the stress got to me and I started screaming. But usually only on the people closest to me (the men who were living off me), not to customer service people. I've been in customer service 25 years and I've taken a ton of abuse, so even at my worse, I never did that to people who didn't deserve it in my eyes.

This is a sad thread. This illness is so horrible I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I've had it since 29 and I'm now 45. Things are a bit better now, but I must say, it ruined the best years of my life. Now it's about coping and keeping the monster at bay.

It demeans those of us who struggle with this when people fake it. People have no idea the torture this is. The living hell.

 

[changed]

My EX fiancee claimed to have the symptoms of PTSD because he was sueing the person who caused the trauma we were both in. What he did made me hate him because I have been suffering with the very things he lied about. He dosent realise they arent to be joked about or used in someones favour- If only he knew what it was really like.

 

[seedling]

I think it would be hard to fake PTSD, but then I'm not good at faking things.

My T said that the assessment I took was designed to show if a person didn't have it and was trying to make it look like they did, and also to show if they did have it and were trying to make it look like they didn't. I didn't show positive for either of those outcomes.

 

[catjudo]

Then there are some doctors who are not qualified to make a diagnosis and aren't concerned about quickly providing a diagnosis to someone whether or not they fit the criteria. I've mentioned this in another thread before but I'm being sued by someone who, among other things, claims to have developed PTSD as a result of a minor automobile accident that I caused. She actually received a written diagnosis of PTSD from a medical doctor eight days after the accident. Obviously this is false because, by definition, one cannot be diagnosed with PTSD such a short time after the accident. (Of course there is the fact that it was a very minor accident, not fitting the criteria for the type of traumatic event necessary to develop PTSD, but I don't even need to argue that point.) Clearly she is just out to gain more money in her lawsuit but the fact that there are doctors out there who will go along with such things is just sickening to me.

 

[Deleted member 5760]

Exactly what I thought catjudo. The doctor has to take some responsibility there also. At the end of the day - the medical side of the things is the doctor's field! He/she really should be knowledgable enough on PTSD to not sign off on something like that. It's completely obvious she's out for money. The reality is, it probably wont get to court (particularly if your insurance company is handling it). Odds are it will be settled out of court. Yes, it's a really crumby example of using the law for just - well, CRAP to gain money really. That said, the medical side is the doctor's field. Either completely uneducated in the disorder, or just unwilling to sit a patient down and say 'I will not sign off on this because....'

 

[catjudo]

Oh, I'm 99.9% sure this will never make it to court. She has asked for an absurd amount of money but her documentation and diagnoses are mostly subjective and a bunch of crap. Beyond the PTSD thing, I know for a fact that she had back and neck issues pre-existing the time of the accident. I serendipitously discovered that we have a mutual acquaintance and they accidentally let that information slip even before I knew that she was going to sue me. I made sure that my insurance company knows this and have told them what prior medical records to request. My insurance company will give her some money but something reasonable. She and her lawyer have to know that her claims won't really stand up in court and I'm sure they'll agree to something smaller eventually. I am very fortunate that I have excellent insurance coverage. I have no problem with her getting money to cover the true and accurate cost of any legitimate medical expenses...like I said, the accident was my fault and that's what insurance is for. But I have a huge problem with someone trying to take advantage of the situation.

 

[Deleted member 5760]

Completely agree catjudo. And I do believe you are entirely right. This one is going to be an exercise in mathematics, negotiation, and above all fiscal management.. hehehe

 

[dhawkins78412]

You're right. PTSD couldn't develope that quickly. I'd think she'd need some counseling first and see if that resolved her issues. PTSD would be a lingering disorder that lasts for however long it would take to get over it. (If that's even remotely possible).

It would be very unfair for her to be labeled with PTSD considering the traumas we've been through.

 

[Jimmy]

In Australia, in the DSM IV, there is a 30 day period. If you are diagnosed within that period, they class it as a depressive episode, or an anxiety disorder.

The other thing to remember is that the majority of us on this site are not qualified psychologist's.

 

[catjudo]

The same criteria are used in the US. No, we're not psychologists but when the very definition of the disorder says that it has to be more than thirty days then even my 5-year-old could figure out that you can't give an official diagnosis one week after the alleged trauma.

 

[bluesky]

Wow this thread! I was only thinking about how people quantify suffering the other day.

Ok I work with elderly people in care. I remember one place I worked at, there were two men. In order to protect confidentiality on the off chance anyone here knows them (we have to be careful! I take client confidentiality VERY seriously). Both had been affected by world war 2. The first one, who had been diagnosed with PTSD and was quite vocal about it. The trauma was caused by bombing within this country. The second man had fought overseas for several years, and was extremely critical of the other man for having PTSD, said he got sick of hearing about it, etc.

Firstly, I thought, it's not my place to judge how this man is feeling. I explained to man n. 2 that everybody's nervous system is different, experiences are different, that PTSD is a complex condition. This is before I had full blown PTSD myself (I hope I conveyed it well). I personally, didn't think it was my place to question someone else's belief around their MH. For the record, man n.2 was qutie interested and said he'd never seen it a certain way, etc. I have worked with older veterans, actually my grandpop had PTSD from Tobruk and I have noticed that perhaps accentuated by their generational attributes, few of them will admit anything is wrong.

When I saw this thread I wondered if this was like Munchaussen syndrome? Though I thought Munchaussen was more about faking physical illness (cancer) and traumas rather than something like PTSD?I have known two girls who have had it. The first girl, I was close friends with. She was ALWAYS ill, allegedly fabricated an assault (I personally can't get my head around that, and write with trepindation because the myth of women faking assault has caused me personal harm and i do not with to wrongly perpetuate it)... there was always something! But other than that she was a genuinely caring and nice girl. The other was a girl I knew through association who faked being held at gun point and raped (and before anyone suggests that maybe she actually was, this happened everytime her bf tried to break up with her. every. time. and her parents told the guy that she'd 'done this many times before'). Although this is shocking that people do this - it wasn't for financial gain - I think in part it's because of a lack of insight rather than premeditated intent. Part of me feels commpassionate towards them, looking at it from this perspective.

I think there is the issue of self-diagnosis. I remember just about every teenage girl I was friends with being convinced they had Bipolar or Borderline. I don't think this was for attention I think this was because adolescence was indeed a confusing time. Sometimes putting a label to a confusing experience helps gain some objectivity.

When I first read this I was suddenly paranoid that I'd somehow 'faked' it even though I identify with it and am having therapy. There are somedays where I am in PTSD mode, and other days where it's like the calm after the storm and I just feel depressed or anxious. The only times I have ever told friends is when I have been suicidal and apologised to them for anything I've done to hurt them. I have never said 'I am suicidal' because I would feel guilty upsetting them when I know I won't go through with it. It might come across as manipulative. I did tell a friend last year when I had my giant breakdown because I told her what I was going through, what had happened because I was convinced she needed to know how horrible I am and then she could decide whether we could be friends or not. I am always incredibly embarased after these episodes when I reveal how 'sick' I am, so I can't imagine why anyone would get happiness out of it...

 

[anni]

Pain is pain. PTSD is a definite damage neurologically, to be sure. Noone wishes to REALLY have the stupid thing, and for various reasons it is necessary to have some methods of diagnosis/verification. There is a danger,for want of a better word, of viewing this as some wierd, exclusive club where others 'couldn't possibly have it', or are faking it for attention, or whatever reason so we need to SEE all the test results-allow them into our little club. Yes, as proven by that appalling statistic, this very thread has been used by those wishing to fake symptoms for nefarious purposes-the scmucks. Perhaps there are also people who tend to be hypochondriacs and spend way too much time navel-gazing themselves into neurosis of imaginary kinds. I think there are still others who tool around life forever afflicted with this dam thing and either avoid the issue, hence avoid healing through guilt/feelings of not deserving help/sheer ingnorance of PTSD ( all of the above for me) or suspect it in themselves and become wildly intimidated by all the diagnostic criteria involved so never pursue the issue, hence never pursue proper healing. Lots of not-healing going on there. I think. I just do think everyone deserves thei pain at least examined and encouraged as to it's depth and perhaps damage. Bluesky, you sound just like so many here, if you read the old threads, with feeling embarresed telling people, then worried maybe you've faked the whole thing-awful isn't it? At least here you'll see all these conflicting and convoluted feelings are completely shared!

Anyway, just feel pain is pain-tough to know where the differentiation begins sometimes.