How Can One Accurately Gauge The Severity Of His/her Ptsd?

[I Can Do This]

How can I claim to have it now when I'm not directly in the thick of it all the time?

I think this is an excellent question that deserves an answer that puts it in the proper context.

PTSD is an injury to your nervous system. It is not a mental illness or disease.

When your nervous system is triggered, or overwhelmed by stress - the injury shows up. You can have a completely normal period in your life where you are "coping" well with it, then BOOM. It is just like a broken toe, you do well getting around but you feel it and compensate for it. But then when someone steps on it - WOW - an immediate rush of pain.

It isn't like a mental illness or disease because PTSD usually results from our life experience that we were not taught how to cope with. A mental illness and disease don't originate this way, typically. We usually have PTSD because we felt helpless and powerless - and it often results in relationship to other people. Mental illness and disease do not.

So what you have is an injury to the nervous system which is controlled by your subconscious brain. It can "flare up" or recede depending on your circumstances. You always have it, but it just doesn't make itself known.

 

[The Albatross]

Cringed a little at the idea of a "mental form of herpes", but basically yeah, a pretty good answer.

 

[I Can Do This]

Sorry - I edited that out! Didn't mean to make you cringe.

 

[The Albatross]

It was a good analogy. Really you didn't have to do that. Kind of you though.

 

[madmax]

I am just wondering,did you stay at a Holiday Inn Express lately?

Max: Just couldn't pass it up......sorry I can Do This!

 

[StarChild]

those who are faking it will exaggerate and even lie about their symptoms in order to get that "trendy" diagnosis label

Funny nice general statement...

• First question: WHO decides or should I say JUDGES, who has PTSD?

• Second question: What made you think PTSD diagnosis is a "trendy" diagnosis?

• And third question: What do you think, what benefits would one get if he or she "claims" he has ptsd? (In my country NONE!)

Because in my country PTSD isn't widely recognized, even among psychiatrists or therapists! Most of them don't even know what it means! So doctors, psychiatrist, disability benefits will mostly give a PTSD-sufferer nothing but mockery and you have to face lots of incomprehension. We have just one small mental clinic who is specialized in PTSD and it has only 8 places on a treatment. Also in my country there isn't a appropriate education to become a trauma therapist. Well, you can do a one year education and half a year of it is only working as a trainee, and that, oh holy cow, makes one a trauma therapist...

And if one belongs to the lucky people who find one of the few (maybe 8 - 10) REAL GOOD EDUCATED trauma therapists, he or she has sometimes to wait until 3 years for such a place! Like me, for example: I'm looking for a trauma therapist for four years now.

I'm sorry, but I really don't understand such a general statement, as I wouldn't make one because I have other experiences.

Nobody who really has this disorder wants it or wants anyone to know about it simply because we want to be "normal"

Well another statement that I don't understand, would you pleas clarify this for me, please? Thank you.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

All I'm going to say is that we're in different countries so my general statements may not necessarily apply to you. I get the feeling that what I said angers you, based on your use of capitalization. Again, what I posted was read elsewhere.

 

[StarChild]

All I'm going to say is that we're in different countries so my general statements may not necessarily apply to you.

So it maybe would be wise and had shown some foresight, if you had mentioned this fact before you're going to make such general statements.

Again, what I posted was read elsewhere.

Well, what about picking sentences / statements out of their context, without cite the source....
But well, that's actually off topic.

I think the severity is as much different as the individual that has to live with PTSD. I'm not sure if it is gaugeable and how. But I also know different days with even easygoing, and other days that make coping with all the stuff PTSD can bring, almost unbearable...

 

[WesternSky]

Thank you for answering my question, I Can Do This. I never thought about it as an injury that can flare up before. I've heard of PTSD being described as more of a physical ailment instead of a mental one, but because I suffered from mental illness before and during PTSD, the two are inextricably linked in my mind. For the longest time I didn't know that some of my symptoms were PTSD-related at all. Only recently have I begun to separate them.

It isn't like a mental illness or disease because PTSD usually results from our life experience that we were not taught how to cope with. A mental illness and disease don't originate this way, typically. We usually have PTSD because we felt helpless and powerless -

This statement to me is somewhat empowering. Sometimes I unfortunately find myself looking for someone or something to validate the suffering, or even my presence on this website. It's actually nice for me to hear someone say that PTSD can come from feelings of helplessness and powerlessness, not just immediate physical harm. It enables me to connect my own experiences - or rather, the feelings they produced in me - to the causes behind PTSD and not just scenarios which may not apply to me.

 

[Pencil]

have never heard of anyone else in my situation. Even directly afterwards, in the worst of my symptoms, it was completely disregarded. How can I claim to have it now when I'm not directly in the thick of it all the time?

Hi WesternSky

Would you care to elaborate?

 

[Pencil]

What made you think PTSD diagnosis is a "trendy" diagnosis?

All kinds of illnesses and their diagnosis become fashionable, then fall out of favour again. Twenty years ago everybody had yuppie flu, before that it was irritable bowel syndrome, currently it is PTSD, but Bipolar is even more trendy (sorry, everyone, we're in the dowdy camp here).

I can think of a number of reasons why someone would want to be diagnosed with PTSD, or ANY other condition, for that matter.

 

[Away From The Sun]

It's actually nice for me to hear someone say that PTSD can come from feelings of helplessness and powerlessness, not just immediate physical harm.

I am sorry but I am a bit confused.

According to the DSM, "the person has experienced, witnessed, or been confronted with an event or events that involve actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of oneself or others."

This also includes neglect, abandonment, not getting your basic physical needs consistently met.