Do People Fake PTSD?

[simplekindofgirl]

J'aime- while I agree with you, that a person absolutely can not self diagnose themselves with PTSD (yet I have seen one example of it where it was confirmed by a trauma specialist after a misdiagnosis was made in a member of this forum- not myself), I disagree with you on what defines trauma.

I do not believe that I have ever looked at a post, or someones pain and disregarded it because that is callous and arrogant. Please understand that I am speaking in a generalized sense and am not intending to imply anything by it, and I certainly mean no offense. But I also understand how the brain works, and I understand how two people can have the exact same- identical- experiences and the result of it can be so vastly differing. It is not for any human being to pass judgement other than to say that if you are here on this forum, in any support group, or you are a friend standing by my side that you can not self diagnose PTSD. But no one else can define what trauma means for anyone else, which is why a medical practitioner qualified to make this diagnosis is the only person who can or should pass that judgment.

 

[J'aime]

I agree with you that different things are traumatizing to different people, and I dfinitely respect your opinions, as we all have them, and they are all different. I am most assuredly here to suppo others suffering from ptsd, but at the same time, I do find it insulting when people use the smallest reasons to say they are traumatized. Actual trauma is much different from depression, shock, or generalized anxiety. Ptsd is a very real, very serious, and sometimes life-threatening disorder which destroys daily life to its core.

I personally find it very hard to believe that someone can honestly experience years of trauma from being yelled at, fighting with a family member, etc. There are so many other clissifications, genres, diagnoses out there that a person can fall into. Ptsd is too-oftentimes used as a crutch, or a way to seek attention, and it downright makes me livid.

I respect anyone ctually dealing with this disorder, whether they are a sufferer or a carer. It's a destructive, demonic disorder that brutalizes many lives. In my own case, I am plagued by night terrors, overwhelming flashbacks, hallucinations (both auditory and visual), panick attacks, mental breakdowns, etc. My fiance has suffered greatly in his enduring attempts to support me, understand me, and get me through our days. My daughter has unfortunately had to watch me suddenly freeze as a flashback seizes me and I am subsequently paralyzed in fear, and break down crying.

It's so extremely and uniquely complex, that I find that people are quick to put a label on their feelings as an attempt to try and convince the world that what they went through upset them. Most of the time, however, a person suffering like that just needs a healthy outlet to just scream it out, and work through it. A truly traumatizing event(s) cripples a life, brings it to its knees, and holds the victim hostage in a perilous world of darkness inside their heads.

I

 

[simplekindofgirl]

J'aime- Now that post- I agree with 100%. You are absolutely right. And that is why a person who is attempting to self diagnose is so wrong for doing so. Because ptsd is so debilitating it can not be diagnosed so easily. And I do think that some medical practitioners hand out the diagnosis just a little too easily.

This is a very delicate thread for that reason. Because those of us, like you and me who have been diagnosed, who struggle every day to live and survive, who know how it feels to be so damaged that we can no longer function let alone maintain any kind of quality of life while we struggle every moment of every day to survive- we feel so slighted by those who suffer from another condition and choose to self diagnose. I think the earlier posts describe it best- they may not suffer from ptsd but they are indeed ill.

Hugs to you J'aime. Many, many hugs.

 

[J'aime]

And hugs to you as well! :) For what it is worth, I am proud of you (and me, too) for seeking help! It takes strength to say, "Hey, something's wrong, and I need support to get through it". Hang in there, and I will too! :) :)

 

[simplekindofgirl]

J'aime- oh my goodness- proud. That is a word I have not been told in far too long. Thank you for that. You brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes at the same time. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It takes an extreme amount of strength, but with you and the people in this forum by my side in my journey, and my T (even though I loathe it right now) I know that I can make it through to the day when my symptoms are all under control. And I know that you understand, and I am so grateful for that, and for you.

I am proud of you too.:)

 

[J'aime]

Well jeez, you should be VERY proud of yourself! :) There are so many people out there who are still afraid to admit they need help and support. Admitting your weaknesses and vulnerabilities takes an incredible amount of strength, and you have every right to be proud of yourself. :) It is a very, very tough journey, but no journey is impossible if you are brave enough to take it on, which you are! :)

I heard a saying once that I hold very dear to me on my bad days... "A diamond is just a chunk of coal, until it is put under immense pressure". xoxo

 

[Just_Checkin]

I didn't mean one mental illness is better or worse than each other. I was tryin to get info from people who live this everyday. I had been all over the net, tryin to get info about PTSD. I got info on what to look for for in a family member, info on what you should look for if you've had a trauma. This just scared the hell outta me. But very little on what ya'll deal with on a daily bases. Can ya have PTSD if you've been diagnosed with something else first? I'm trying to figure out if things I'm feeling, are just the normal reaction of having 2 major traumas within 2 years. Or have I let all the stuff I've read go to my head.

The main reason I was asking about faking,when she was diagnosed less than 6 weeks ago, and she's already contacted a disabilities attorney, refuses to take her meds on time, really any type of schedule.Many people have volunteered to help her with it. Said they would call at times she needed to take the meds, but she refuses.
I guess what I wanted to know from ya'll, if someone refuses help, what can you do? Writing this out has let me know what I need to do. I need to take care of myself.

Is Southern now considered a foreign language? :p

 

[Gamereign555]

It's a complicated topic.

Some have Ptsd and are receiving treatment, psychological and or medicinal.
Some have Ptsd and are not receiving treatment because of unavailability of a system in place for those needing help.
Some have Ptsd and are not receiving treatment yet.
Some have Ptsd and are in a very uncomfortable spot between denial, fear and or just wanting to put their past behind them.. one way or another and are not receiving treatment.

Some have Ptsd as a diagnosis and are receiving treatment, and get this, they have never been deployed or have ever remotely been interested in the military.

Some people suspect they have Ptsd but are unable to get a clear diagnosis of it from their doctor/therapist and instead have other diagnosis for which they are receiving treatment. Such as BP, GAD, panic disorder. Some of us see many doctors or therapists before landing in the right spot for their care.

Some people suspect Ptsd, have done internet research but have not talked with a doctor or therapist. They believe their self diagnosis is good enough for them right now.

Faking is something else entirely. It implies that the person is intentionally trying to brand themselves with a condition that they do not have, for attention or for money possibly. It is far more likely that we simply just have a lot of people in this 'grey area' between actual diagnosis, and awareness of condition. I don't believe that there is this ill will in tons and tons of people to abuse the system, but the potential is certainly there. Maybe more potential for this happening in the military.. but I am really not sure.

I think if you suspect Ptsd but don't have a diagnosis then you owe it to yourself and loved ones to find out what is really going on of course.. But this all happens at your particular speed. Some go to therapy a month after and some might not get around to it for 40 years.

 

[simplekindofgirl]

Just_checkin- HA! Southern is indeed not a foreign language, except to us native from Californians (but don't hold that fact against me)- I am surrounded by foreign language all day every day. While my native language is english- I am the one speaking a foreign language. Sorry to have confused you, and myself. The whole bi-lingual thing- so completely over-rated, and mind boggling at times.

What gamereign555 says is true. There are people who will diagnose, some who self diagnose, there are others who will be diagnosed and do nothing while others rush out and get treatment for the next available appt. And then there are the ones who want to use it as an excuse in order to have some kind of gain from it. But that "grey area" is spot on. Something that I have learned is that no two people will respond the same. The condition is often different from person to person, even if the science behind it is generalized.

You can not help a person who does not want it. You can force therapy or med.s or anything else, but they truly have to want help if they hope to truly receive it. But you know that already. She may not be ready to face it just yet. PTSD for some people (and for myself as well) came in phases. The whole series of bargaining, denying, accepting kind of thing. And every day is different. What gives you strength one day, makes you incredibly vulnerable and weak the next. I can't explain it as it is unexplainable. Except, that what she is doing does not fall into the range of faking it unless she is indeed faking it. Otherwise, her response may well be justified within herself.

I can relate to some of your trauma- though I do not know want to insinuate for a single moment that I know what it is like to be you. I had a terrible auto accident, and backed it up in an accident in a dirt bike race. I have had 2 other forms of trauma/abuse- one before, and one since- but it all really started with that car accident. Your picture- was that from one of your traumas?

A person can be diagnosed with PTSD if they suffer from a medical condition or mental health condition prior to their trauma. The primary diagnosis being the initial disorder, the secondary becoming the PTSD. There is a lot of information out there about the PTSD being primary with other conditions resulting and becoming the secondary conditions or symptoms- but there really is not a lot of fact, reports, studies released on how a condition prior to trauma relates to post traumatic experiences and then to PTSD. When I was in university I did a lot of research since that was where I was headed at that time, and it was of interest because of what abuse I had suffered through, though I am absolutely certain that at the time I did not have ptsd. While I can not really post anything in detail about the cases themselves, I can say that those who had been diagnosed with other disorders seemed to, in more than half of the cases (observed) give a trauma survivor a predisposition if you would to actually developing ptsd after their trauma. PTSD was diagnosed more frequently than other forms of trauma based mental health issues such as depression. It became a common phrase- compound problems- a person with an underlying mental or medical condition prior to experiencing trauma. Their brain compounds problems, much like those diagnosed with cptsd. I am not trying to say anything by this, other than, this is what was found at the time in such cases.

You are amongst good company here, And hopefully you will continue to use this forum in order to help you to take care of yourself. Take care of you first, worry about the rest later.

 

[Meadowsweet]

Something I've come to realise, is that my perception of reality can be miles apart from the reality friends or relatives are seeing. That difference often makes the way I am incomprehensable to the other person. Yet, as social beings, many people find it frightening and difficult to accept that others live with a different version of reality. This applies to the sufferer as well as to those around them. It seems relatively common for both the sufferer and the friend, or relatives, to believe that the other persons reactions are wrong and unjustified. So I think that until either side realises that there own view is not the only view of reality, there is likely to be thoughts and accusations of lies, deception and faking.

In my case, when I realised that others saw something totally different to me, I began trying to trust in their viewpoint rather than my own. But my mind could never maintain that, because something will always take me back into my trauma related world. But to others, it can give the impression of being ingenuine or not knowing my own feelings. The consequence is that people become amateur psychologists and make up something that seems to explain weird behaviour. I don't feel that the people who have decided what I think and feel, would now accept that I have PTSD. So I feel quite sad that there is a discussion about whether people fake it, because I imagine myself being told that I'm faking it if I tried to open up and tell anyone.

From the perspective of someone saying they have PTSD without a diagnosis, not very long ago, I thought that PTSD was something veterans developed. The only symptom I would have associated with it was severe hallucinatory flashbacks to battle situations, so I never imagined I had PTSD. But, when I've experienced frightening symptoms, a couple of times I've tried to tell people I though I was having a mental breakdown. I used the word mental breakdown, because its the only label I knew, and friends ignored it anyway. Even though I used the wrong diagnostic word, I think I would have been helped if somebody had offered to come to the doctors with me and find out what was going on.

Sorry I've gone on. I think its something I needed to get out. But I agree with others saying that we can't diagnose ourselves or others, so if someone says they have any sort of mental health issue, the best thing we can do is help them seek professional advice.

 

[Philippa]

You should consider looking at the post immediately prior to your own. This thread is one that irritates a lot of the members, so I suggest you tread forward with extreme caution.

Let me start by stating and asking just a few things. Has this person had a traumatic experience that you know of? Because what you believe to be "intentional thinking" may not be intentional at all. For people who suffer from trauma and post trauma, it is often not a choice. And alcohol and substance abuse problems are quite common in trauma survivors. Posting her diagnosis on Facebook may be her way of reaching out, even if it does not make sense to you. Trauma seldom makes sense to a person who has ever experienced it.

This is very validating for me.

I went on another forum I go to sometimes, a while ago, and made a thread asking for some emotional support as I was in real bad pain and felt like jabbing a pen in my eye one day when I was at work.

It probably wasn't the best decision to go there and ask for help, when I should have come here, but I guess I wasn't thinking too clearly at the time. Anyway, one guy told me I was deliberately recalling thoughts from the past that were traumatic as a way to get attention from them. I was in serious emotional agony at the time and was having violent impulses and he said this. Another guy told me to pray to jesus, and another told me I have a victim mentality! People don't know what to say to people who are in pain, and they usually say the totally worst things possible.

It's good to know that what I thought was true...at the time, it really felt like I had no control over thinking those things...as it has been in the past when I was seriously depressed and traumatized, and would get spoken to with annoyance for "only focussing on the bad stuff". I know that at the heart of me I look for the good in everything, but trauma has made that hard at times.

I'm sure there are people who think they have it and may not, and there are people who fake having all sorts of things for attention and so they can get social security...and that makes it ten times harder for people who really do have it, as people will then suspect them of bullshitting for the reasons I just gave!

 

[simplekindofgirl]

AlmostNotQuite- first, welcome to the forum. There is a lot of wonderful information here.

I believe that this thread in particular is a real frustrating issue for a lot of the members for that reason- Like Meadowsweet, most of us/we all believe deeply that a diagnosis (and second opinions) are necessary to determine PTSD. It is not a one size fits all condition, and too many people have things that have happened that they want to categorize into an official diagnosis because they do indeed have a condition. Just not PTSD. And seeking professional assistance in getting a diagnosis is required.

But, I, like you have said that it is not for me to decide. You do what you can, you point them in the right direction, and you softly shake your head from side to side when they are gone. But what can you do but go along to get along?

I would never accuse a person of faking it however- if the diagnosis has indeed been made. In the case of a self diagnosis, well, then they simply do not belong on this forum. I am sure some have self diagnosed with success, but it is not the way to handle it, but that is just my opinion. While I do believe that some have been misdiagnosed, I also understand that the brain functions in different way in different people. What one persons sees as trauma, another does not, and vice versa. We do not know why, science itself can not even account for the why to this. It is what it is.

I did deny it. When I was initially diagnosed as (clinically) depressed some years ago now, I thought "No way". Well, ok, I was depressed, but to have that diagnosis, it just somehow made it too real. I wanted so much to be- well I didn't want to be anything else either, except for possibly normal. I eventually moved on from denial, and found that phase of acceptance. I went through therapy, group therapy, medication trials- nothing helped. Nothing.

And then I decided to switch medical groups- I went back to my previous physician who specialized in trauma. He is the funniest little italian guy you ever did see. I remember after I had a really terrible motorcycle accident- when I finally did wake up which took quite some time- of course they ask you all sorts of things, what is the date, what day is it, who is the president, etc- I couldn't answer a single one of them correctly- And my Dr. comes in and asks how are you feeling, same questions that I had already been asked, and before he could finish asking me I interrupted him. Rather rudely I admit and said, "Dr, ________, I don't need to know who the president is, I only need to know, when can I ride again?"

His eyes- I will never forget the look. He shook his head at me and said- "let's just get you out of this room and into my office where we can discuss it then." - I went back to this doctor who had been forced to deal with my rather wild ideas of survival- but he had seen the result of one of my traumas. He was the one who did some screening, and then he sent me to a trauma center- and that was where I was properly diagnosed- but it took me more than 4 years to get the diagnosis.

Again, I told myself- no way. No, not me. I am tough, and sure I have had some trauma, I have been through some really very difficult times, but I have also been through way less than other people who do not have PTSD. I have studied this very topic, I know how bad some peoples trauma can be. I am just sad. There is nothing wrong with me, only the people around me.

But, I did go to another trauma center, not even in the same state as the first and received the same diagnosis. For me part of accepting it had to come from not one, not two, but multiple confirmations of the diagnosis.

So- in conclusion- I am in the same boat as you. I didn't want this, do not want it, yet I have it. I will not show a lack compassion for a person who has it (and has been diagnosed) and responds to it in what another person might call a different or unusual way. You can not make sense out of something that simply doesn't make any sense. PTSD or just people, neither make sense when they are put together.