Other For Those That Have Had Traumatic Complex And Lengthy Legal Battles.....

[Thematrix]

@C.M. thanks for sharing. Nine years is a long time. The justice systems is inhumane for victims. Is it possible to appeal the denied counselling? It sounds like you helped others with this case-bravo! That is huge. You are very strong, and have been through a lot, most will not be able to understand the magnitude of it, unless they have been through similar for that many years . Dr Judith Herman has done a lot on this sort of thing. There is an undeniable element of almost being held hostage emotionally and in other ways on top of other traumas. It is a terrible thing to put a known PTSD sufferer through for that period of time and for sure its negatively impacted your ability to heal and delayed that as well.

No one can say who's trauma is worse or my trauma is bigger than yours, that is simply not how trauma works! It does not say this, nor is it done by comparison in the DSM either, and it helps absolutely no one in the end. I think we need to get past that kind of thinking and is part of why the supports needed are so shitty for far to many who are the majority but are practically forced to stay silent

All diagnosed PTSD sufferers should be respected equally and provided the adequate supports equally no matter the cause as we cannot know or understand their lived experience

 

[C.M]

Thankyou kindly for supportive thoughts, much appreciated. Trauma is Trauma and I am sure we each have our journeys to share in survival.
It helps to be here reading, chatting knowing we are each Not alone nor are we "crazy"; given what we each have been through. PTSD and related trauma injuries (physical, mental, emotional) are shites Yet (on the flipside) It takes a Strong Mind, Intelligence and Spirit to Survive traumas and not losing compassion nor empathy in this journey; this is very important affirmation. I would say often and sharing here: My body and mind have been intentionally harmed, yet this essence within, no other has touched. Essence may have hidden in some of those moments, days, years yet that was only for Survival. This may continue to occur when overwhelmed. We each do our best in any given moment knowing all is dynamic.

 

[estelle beninson]

Thankyou kindly for supportive thoughts, much appreciated. Trauma is Trauma and I am sure we each have our...

I was emotionally traumatised by a bogus psycotherapist. It was a bit like a cult situation. I believed whatever he told me and it was really damaging. I was traumatised again by the treatment I got from two solicitors. Have you tried to explain the most important things happening to you, in a 30 second interview, when your memory has been zapped by trauma and you just cant find the words to explain. So you dont say anything and they think you have nothing to say. If you get emotional they assume you are crazy and therefore unreliable. And if you dont get emotional they assume you havent been damaged because you are not emotional. In an interview i said, "There is something wrong with my memory" and he said, "Whats wrong with it" and I couldnt retrieve the words to tell him, because the words were in my memory and there was something wrong......

 

[Wendy]

Where does the author compare battle on the field to battle in the courtroom? All the author says is that people who suffer courtroom abuse may develop PTSD symptoms SIMILAR TO the symptoms that people in combat may develop. It seems to me that the only reason combat was even mentioned is because that's what MOST (uneducated and not having to deal with it) people think of when they think of PTSD. You say PTSD and people think combat. The author does not say the potential causes are the same at all--just that similar outcomes can happen from both.

Personally, and not meaning any disrespect, but the way some of these commenters phrased their replies was very invalidating to those of us who suffer PTSD symptoms but have not been in combat. We get that enough with everyone else we meet--I am disappointed to see the same thing here, where I thought people knew better.

 

[Neverthesame]

Not sure I understand.

I have PTSD. I've never been in combat. How was I invalidating myself?

 

[joeylittle]

Where does the author compare battle on the field to battle in the courtroom?

Where they say this:

people who suffer courtroom abuse may develop PTSD symptoms SIMILAR TO the symptoms that people in combat may develop.

That's all.

I don't think anyone here is meaning to invalidate PTSD from non-combat-related trauma. I can speak for myself, what bothered me was that the author was saying that being in court is a kind of battle, and can leave the defendant or plaintiff suffering from something like PTSD.

PTSD is itself, there's no such thing as PTSD-like, or PTSD-lite. PTSD comes from all sorts of different situations, but going through a lengthly court process - as difficult and painful and horrible as it may be - is not one of them.

 

[Wendy]

Joeylittle--as someone whose ex continues to engage me in court over custody, child support, etc., I have to disagree with you. It is traumatic to chronically have your value as a parent publicly attacked, to have so-called mental health "experts" invalidate you and side with your accuser, to never know when the next courtroom battle (summons) will arrive, always on edge, always on the defense. It is financially draining, emotionally abusive, and physically exhausting. I get sick to my stomach sometimes just seeing his emails in my inbox. I have nightmares that he is stealing my kids from me. When I tell people that I have PTSD, the first thing they say is, "oh, were you in the military?" That is what the public thinks--only military personnel can have PTSD. But that's not true and the lack of validation because people don't understand this is further traumatizing and hurtful.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

@Wendy, you MUST have one Criteria A to be diagnosed with PTSD.

DSM 5:

Criterion A: stressor

The person was exposed to: death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence, as follows: (one required)

1. Direct exposure.
2. Witnessing, in person.
3. Indirectly, by learning that a close relative or close friend was exposed to trauma. If the event involved actual or threatened death, it must have been violent or accidental.
4. Repeated or extreme indirect exposure to aversive details of the event(s), usually in the course of professional duties (e.g., first responders, collecting body parts; professionals repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse). This does not include indirect non-professional exposure through electronic media, television, movies, or pictures.

The court case is very stressful, but it isnt a criteria A stressor, therefore cannot qualify for PTSD alone.

When I tell people that I have PTSD, the first thing they say is, "oh, were you in the military?" That is what the public thinks--only military personnel can have PTSD. But that's not true and the lack of validation because people don't understand this is further traumatizing and hurtful.

Educate them. People think its just military because they dont want to admit other trauma happens or are just ignorant of the subject.

People know no different until they do.

 

[Fadeaway]

@Wendy While going through custody battles is very painful and emotionally draining, it isn't enough to cause PTSD. A decent percentage of the members here have non-combat PTSD, So we understand about people jumping to conclusions about PTSD means combat. Our PTSD may not have come from combat but it did come from near fatal accidents, rape, torture, physical abuse, ect. I went through a hellish divorce and it sucked, but it is not the same as experiancing the type of trauma that results in PTSD.

 

[Hooper]

My eyes just rolled so far back into my head I almost seized.

***

I hate court. Hate, despise, loathe... And I've been on the receiving end of a court system where being found guilty isn't the pansy ass American justice system & their day spa resort style prisons... As well as the sheer f*cking idiocy of American Family Court, where the results of their asinine rulings send kids to their abusers...

I tend to agree with this. Choosing between what I lived through and the above is a no brainer but I wouldn't dismiss it completely. My childhood went straight downhill when my parents divorced at 10. It was so ugly that it went from a divorce case to a criminal case against my Dad because of how he ran the family business. It dragged on for 5 years in courts, the court of public opinion and the local newspaper. At 14 I watched my Dad convicted of a felony with the next stop being the state penitentiary.

Knowing and not knowing what happens in prison made the whole situation extremely traumatic especially at my age. My mother tried to put my father in prison over $50k that went into a joint account. There was a happy ending when my Dad won his appeal in the state supreme court but now we are 5 years down the road. Less 10 years later I inherited a lawsuit against the trustee who replaced my Dad and was a close friend of my Mom when my great aunt died. So did my siblings and 1 first cousin. Since he acted on my mother's behalf I had to stay in the lawsuit to protect her if the trustee lost the case and sued her. He did lose and they did sue my Mom but it went nowhere.

The whole thing is sordid and left me with the firm belief that 3 people benefit from the law:
1. Those who break it.
2. Those who administer it.
3. Those who write the laws.

The rest of us are screwed. I took the PTSD test on healthy place and scored 12 out of 22 or 55% which anything over 10 is displaying many symptoms of PTSD. It seems very high to me considering I have not had what I consider an inordinate amount of trauma but the experience definitely left its mark on me. You could say it left me slightly jaded. I don't know what you would call it but there has to be a little something to it.

 

[Neverthesame]

There is more to diagnosing a psychiatric disorder than going through a list of symptoms, ticking off what fits. Alot more.

For example:
Let's look at a common symptom of anxiety disorders. Insomnia. With a scenario of how bad that can really get.

In this scenario. "Bob" is a guy who is having trouble sleeping.

After several weeks of getting almost no sleep. Bob is exhausted, sore, unable to concentrate, moody all around bloody miserable.
But, he still has to work, clean, cook, etc, ect.

So, caffeine becomes his go to.
This of course makes the insomnia worse. Bob starts taking sedatives.
This escalates his symptoms as the dosages increase to counter the tolerance Bob's body has developed to these drugs.

After a few months. Bob is now consuming an excessive amout of caffeine, 10 or more cups of coffee per day trying to function. He begins suffering from severe anxiety, paranoia, auditory and visual hallucinations, mood swings, racing thoughts.

Bob then goes on the Internet, takes a survey and gets a disturbing result. Paranoid Schizophrenia.

So Bob goes to see a psychiatrist for help.
Later on, Bob walks out the psychiatrists office feeling relieved, albeit a bit foolish.

What was wrong with Bob?
Insomnia.

What caused his pseudo schizophrenic episode?
The coffee.

Yup. Caffeine really can do that to you. The sedatives can also exacerbate anxiety. Especially when taken regularly in large quantities.
Benadryl (dipenhydramine) In large doses, causes delusions, among other things.

Those survey things, are really nothing more than a novelty. They are meant to encourage or scare you to see your doctor.

 

[Ronin]

I was emotionally traumatised by a bogus psycotherapist. It was a bit like a cult situation.

Again, no.

Nothing alike.

Being abused by a therapist? Emotional wounds, for sure.

Being deprived of your freedom, included the freedom to think (as in decide about how your brain will work, who you will associate with, where will you move, or basics like, hello, to be a decent human being that does not hurt other people or animals.)? Nowhere in the same f*cking land.

For a quick reference: Check the definitions of malpractice vs. crimes against humanity and slavery, respectively.

Abuse does not compare to a mix of abuse and torture. Emotional abuse does not compare to any other type of abuse. Period.