PTSD/ASD And Wikipedia

[loqu]

Wikipedia is the place I turn to for information on most any subject, and I have found the articles on PTSD and ASD to be quite lacking in accurate information. Now, I've run into an interesting argument.

On the talk page for PTSD, I posted a link to my thread on PTSD/ASD and the error of terminology ([DLMURL]http://www.ptsdforum.org/showthread.php?t=11735[/DLMURL]) along with a description of the content and a suggestion of making clear the distinction between ASD and PTSD and how the latter is incurable in nature. Then I received the following response:

"This is simply wrong. To say that "...PTSD is due to a permanent physiological change within the brain which is life long and for which there is no cure..." is to spread gross misinformation. When the symptoms of PTSD are no longer present, and do not reappear, we have a cure. I have personally accomplished this cure with so many people that I couldn't quickly give you an accurate estimate - and each cure is documented with careful records of the treatment and the symptom resolution."

It goes on for quite a bit. You can read it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Posttraumatic_stress_disorder#PTSD.2FASD.2C_misunderstanding_and_misdiagnosis

Let me just say for the record that I believe what in particular anthony has made clear on this board, namely that PTSD is incurable and that so called "curable" PTSD is actually misdiagnosed ASD. However, I would love for others to engage in a discussion on the Wikipedia page in order to improve the articles pertaining to this topic. Someone with more experience than me should begin to deal with the people who themself are minsinformed over there.

 

[anni]

Hi,

I think that even those of us who have been diagnosed with PTSD, but who are not professionals can contact Wikipedia to say 'WHAT???!!! I'm also going to ask them who has some financial interest in perpetrating this bunch of cr*p. I'm guessing that if one tracks this article to it's genesis one will discover there's some snake oil for sale. Possibly there will even be a bridge or two they'd be willing to part with for a price.

Thanks for giving me something to take action about!

Take care,

Annie

 

[onebravegirl]

I KNOW I have recovered. I do not have a doubt in my mind. No one.
Keep in mind that the Mental health industry is a business and there are plenty of Professionals who would love to spread this propaganda for their own financial gain. Prescriptions and promoted self Pity makes money.
Keep also in mind that there are many people who need intensive treatment and are not able to get it. Social, family , financial pressure not to mention the actual symptoms of PTSD can freeze a person in terror if not controlled. All of these reasons why people may believe that they are stuck with this. Keep also in mind that some people with this Illness use it as a crutch because they do not have the fortitude to face it. It is the hardest work a person will ever do and for many many it is too daunting a task. Many are addicted to their illness. It is all they know it is all they know how to be and so they stay there. This breaks my heart but it happens. I have seen it over and over again. I pray and hope that one day they will learn that they are not their illness, that recovery is possible. Depending on the severity of our conditions, we may have to put absolutely everything else in our lives on hold to get well but it is possible. We can choose to be a victim or a survivor.
I had no idea that Anthony felt that it is unrecoverable. I doubt I would have joined this sight if I had. I'm so happy to see that not everyone agrees with that thinking.
O

 

[TLight]

I think most of us, especially those with CPTSD that has been left untreated for years, will likely struggle to overcome the brain chemistry that has run us throughout our life.

The part of the brain that causes our symptoms if very old and is there to protect us from danger. Stress will always cause us more challenges than people who haven't been through prolonger traumatic experiences.

The brain can be rewired. We can develop different coping mechanisms when stress comes our way. We can build our lives in such a manner that keeps our symptoms to a minimum and we can even attained prolonged periods of peace.

But I think we will always be more vulnerable to stress. And we need to keep that in mind.

I think there is no 'cure'.....I think treatment definately does help. I agree with the first post, most people that claim their all better always and stress doesn't bother them anymore and they never have the torment that they've had in the past........we'll, I think they've done the things I"m talking about above.............to them, they are 'cured.'

Fine and dandy..........I honestly think that being honest about how what our brains are doing and being bluntly on top of ourselves when dealing with stress and having this awareness will help us stay stable.

This is what works for me. Denial never did.......it made me sicker even. So I refuse to be in denial that my brain is programmed very differently from people who haven't suffered the things I have in their life.

Denial isn't healthy. Ever.

 

[Deleted member 541]

The thing with Wikipedia, is anyone can post on that site. The information is misleading, and most times there is no data to back up the claims.....

Onebravegirl..........PTSD is NOT curable. PERIOD!!!!!!!! You can and may get better, but with just the right amount of stress, or shit in your life that you can't cope with, you WILL get sick again. If you don't get sick again, then chances are you didn't have PTSD in the first place.

There is plenty of data to back that up too, so don't think it's just people talking through their butt holes.....

 

[onebravegirl]

She cat
You are entitled to your own opinion of your own illness. I was not trying to say that people are talking through their buttholes if they do not agree with me. Everyone's illness is their own. I stay by what I know, PTSD is painful, difficult but people DO recover. I am one of them. Documented by a Hospital that specializes in Trauma and Trauma Recovery.
I apologize if my experience upsets you, that was not my intention.
This site is full of people who are very hopeful about recovery and I love that about it.
When referring to a certain type of people I was speaking of experiences I have shared with many others in Trauma therapy who for a million different and unhealthy reasons, hold on to their traumas as an excuse not to heal and move forward. Perhaps you have not been in a Ward of a hospital where there are 20-30 other PTSD sufferers. Some Of these people have been misdiagnosed. There are also many who are so deep in a cycle of self-harm that they just want the medications to permanently sedate them rather than face their pain. I was not referring to people who are bravely doing what they can to cope with what they endure. Good grief, I do not think anyone here is Faking anything. And I certainly would never accuse fellow members of this sight of faking either. No need to get mean here.
O

 

[SunnyBrookFarm]

I do not believe that PTSD is curable. However, I work hard every day at trying to live with it - and continue to improve to a level where my symptoms are under control.

ASD is an entirely different issue as I understand it and is curable. Now, it may be true that some people who have been diagnosed with PTSD actually have ASD - in which case they would be "cured".

Acceptance is huge with any chronic condition. Don't mistake acceptance for laying down and giving up - not at all the same thing. However, the fact is that our brains are different and it can't be undone. My son has a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) - he has a hole in his brain. The hole will not ever heal. However, he can learn how to manage his symptoms the best he can so as to minimize the effect it has on his life. That's what my goal is with PTSD also.

 

[Deleted member 541]

Not getting mean, at all. Just stating facts. PTSD is not curable. Quite possibly that you are in maintenance, due to doing a lot of work on yourself.

I'm glad that you are doing well. I am too, and have been for awhile. But, I know the pattern all to well. I do well for a time, then I crash again due to stress, triggered, or just plain crap from life.....

 

[onebravegirl]

Perhaps there is a difference between the term Recovered and Cured.
When I say Recovered I mean that I no longer have any of the effects of CPTSD that I carried for my entire life up until I Went into the Hospital and Full time Therapy for five years. None. I had to re-train my brain so to speak. Old coping skills and ways of reasoning and reacting had to be analyzed and new behaviors practiced until they became habitual. Retracing an entire childhoods worth of traumas takes a lot of work. There is no way I could have ever done this without a great team of Experienced Doctors who specialized in women's Trauma. I dug through every possible painful, humiliating,horrifying experience I ever had. I asked every possible question I ever had. I spilled out every emotion and thought I had carried alone my entire life. I left my children and my husband at home, and lived in the Hospital. I did not work. I did nothing but Trauma work. I barely bathed for the first three years. I cut off all contact with the outside world. No friends, no extended family. Getting well was my sole focus, because if I did not do this, I would DIE. If I died then My sons would grow up with the knowledge that heir mother gave up on life, that they were not important enough to live for. 80% of all kids who's parent kills themselves, commit suicide themselves. What kind of legacy would that be?
Trauma is a result of Injury. I have Recovered from my injuries. I still have scars on my writs that remind me everyday that I had injuries. You cannot cure scars. But you can heal and move forward, new, clean and well.
And Oh. I have had this "tested" by newer terrifying events. But I did not react the way I used too. When you know better you can do better.
That is why I am ONEBRAVEGIRL. And I am NOT the only one.
O

 

[loqu]

I would love for anthony to get in on this and straighten things out over there. It's too much nonsense going on and it would be great to have a source of good information on that particular website.

 

[Ursa]

Wikipedia is not a reliable resource for informations in general.

Too bad it is one link that comes on the first page on almost any kind of research done by google.

Over time it is getting better but it is still far from being reliable.

 

[loqu]

Let me just add that I have myself gotten into a major argument over there now. Not because I consider myself qualified in the sense of educational merit, but because even a layman like myself can see through the misinformation. They are claiming PTSD can be cured, but at the same time, on the article page it says that PTSD is due to a biochemical change within the brain. If the condition can be cured, there should be a tonne of MRI scans readily available showing how the imbalance has been reversed.

I do not suffer from PTSD (I'm getting better every week now) but my experience with ASD, which was very painful, has made me highly alert on this issue. I think it's time we put the foot down and sorted out the inaccuracies in an authoritative source like Wikipedia. This was the first place I turned to when I came down symptoms, and I want for the next person who endures trauma to have a proper source of accurate information that is in accordance with trauma and its effects in the real world, not on paper. Please help me to make this happen!