Ptsd?

[Muve]

So I was diagnosed with PTSD last year. My mom was diagnosed as bipolar when I was a teen but doesn't take meds. We are pretty sure she's schizophrenic. I hear that PTSD and bipolar are often the first things diagnosed while the Schizophrenia issue is unveiling itself. So I've been here seeing where I fit in but things are getting really weird. I have trauma so my diagnosis makes sense.

However, I hear people talking when they aren't. Sometimes I see flashes of a person in the house. I converse with people who are in my head. They give advice and remind me of things but sometimes they make comments about what I'm doing. Not out loud, just in my head. I have trouble keeping up with the order in which things are happening. For example it's hard to know if I did something or just thought about doing it or knowing if a memory is a memory or something in the future. It can also feel like time rewinds and I am doing the same thing over and over.

Outside of that I see and feel bugs a lot lately and it's become very difficult to organize my life. I often mess up on sentences and have to try again so that I make sense. It's just gotten difficult.

I would just like to know if my experiences are something you experience with your PTSD.

 

[Misube]

I don't personally experience those symptoms. I think that a number of them fall outside the PTSD diagnosis so it's best to seek out a professional opinion.

 

[Jamehun]

Those don't sound like symptoms of PTSD for the most part. Have you experienced a traumatic event?

 

[Muve]

They chose the PTSD diagnosis based on growing up with my unstable mother. Some days she would be around and others she would throw things at us, call us horrible names, spank up with belts or wooden kitchen utensils... and it could be simple because he accidentally spilled our drink at the table. It was very crazy.

I was referred from a therapist to a psychiatrist earlier this year and he has mentioned schizophrenia so I thought I would ask. If I have to have something I would rather it be PTSD. I guess right now I'm just waiting to see how things pan out but I wanted a little insight.

 

[Ebut]

If I have to have something I would rather it be PTSD. I guess right now I'm just waiting to see how things pan out but I wanted a little insight.

You could have both, we can't really say. I feel for you though. I think the not knowing would be very unnerving.

 

[Wolo]

So I was diagnosed with PTSD last year. My mom was diagnosed as bipolar when I was a teen but doesn't take meds. We are p...

I am not qualified to diagnose. I do not experience the symptoms you describe. The symptoms sound more like drug side effects to me, but I am not qualified to diagnose. I would suggest you look up any drugs you are taking and see what side effects they have. Doctors do not always fully inform on side effects.

 

[Uta]

How old are you, and what is your gender?

They give advice and remind me of things but sometimes they make comments about what I'm doing.

Are those comments supportive, or critical, or neutral?

I was diagnosed with PTSD last year

Are you currently on any medication? And, how upfront have you been with your therapist or psychiatrist about these issues?

 

[Wuha]

Are you still seeing a therapist? I don't think that it is impossible for what you are experiencing to be flashbacks and dissociation, but this is likely something that you would need to spend quite a bit of time with a therapist to untangle. If you are hallucinating, that does not necessarily mean that you have schizophrenia, especially since your mother has not been officially diagnosed. Psychosis can occur with a lot of other mental illnesses.

 

[Lako]

Remember there's a big difference between PTSD from a traumatic event and Complex or C-PTSD deriving from growing up in a continually toxic/traumatic/dysfunctional family. Unfortunately C-PTSD is not yet a DSM diagnosis so the symptom cluster ends up being disgnosed as a range of other labels depending on the diagnostician.

If you read authors like Gabor Mate you'll find that what are known as attachment problems can lie at the root of a range of DSM diagnoses. One thing that a chaotic childhood does is mess with our memory and also our capability to process incoming information effectively, which is the source of the "executive processing deficit" and the "filter" metaphor.... difficulty filtering information and attributing it correctly.

Best thing to do is go and find a therapist who specialises in C-PTSD/ people who have grown up in chaotic families.

 

[Dejec]

So, cptsd is from abusive childhood, not multiple traumas in adult? What if someone has abusive childhood AND multiple traumas as adult?

 

[Inog]

So, cptsd is from abusive childhood, not multiple traumas in adult? What if someone has abusive childhood AND multiple...

Cptsd is typically from childhood abuse, being held captive, etc.

Multiple discrete adult traumas does not necessarily equal cptsd.

The abusive childhood could be enough to diagnose cptsd.

 

[Ipog]

Yu may well find that the abusive childhood set up the behavioural processes that led to an impaired ability to assess risk & safety, particularly around other people.

This is common.... there is research that indicates soldiers are predisposed to combat PTSD if they come from troubled backgrounds.

If you have both childhood attachment issues/trauma and event driven classic PTSD, the treatments are different for the two types. Probably the first thing to do is assess your risk behaviours, particularly around your family & peer group. If you are C-PTSD and unable to accurately assess risk... eg peer group drive dangerously/DUI or take street drugs then treatment will probably focus on that aspect first so that the potential for more trauma/trauma reinforcement is reduced. This is around boosting awareness of the environment and your sense of active choice. Once this is in place the therapist can decide which type of PTSD is most affecting your ability to function. You will probably find that the two types are enmeshed and a good therapist can handle this. If you think you have Complex PTSD, avoid therapists who deal only with Classic event driven PTSD as they won't have the range and depth of expertise to help you. Complex PTSD is really a disorder of familial attachment, a response to a sense of lack of long term safety and stability. This is what the "Early memories of warmth and safety scale" EMWSS is trying to measure. you can Google it to see how you score.