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You can't choose whether or not you have PTSD. The only thing you can do is choose how you are going to handle it. I hallucinate and have delusions that are related to trauma and that makes it hard to "choose" to do anything except be f*cking psychotic. But there is a limited scope in which you have a choice, but I hate people who seem to think that just because you are sad or you are injured or you are depressed or suicidal that it's because you've chosen to be that way. It's not.

Suicide as an action is a choice but most people don't choose to feel suicidal, for example. If they had the opportunity to feel something other than that, they would. It is the result of their brain saying "okay, I can't deal with it anymore, and as a rational intelligent being I can conceive of ending my life." It's like that with PTSD. "Okay, I can't handle being traumatized so I am depressed about it." If you have no treatment and no help and all you do is sit around with your brain on eleven of course you are going to be f*cking miserable. That's not a choice, it's f*cking logic.

And there are shitloads of issues within PTSD that are not related to the mind at all, such as hypervigilance and reflexive startle and split rage, etc. Those are neurological responses. You can't "choose" to stop them. You have to TREAT them. And people like this who basically make it seem like anybody who isn't happy is just choosing not to be happy is one of those people that make therapy seem "stupid" and weak. Which is why so many people DON'T get TREATMENT for their DISORDER.

Mental illness is not a f*cking happy fairy la la la bullshit, it's a f*cking illness, it's a disorder, it's not some cozy f*cking thing. People need to stop treating mental illness like just because it's in your mind, you have some kind of f*cking control over it. If you have diabetes you can change the way you live your life and that will help the illness, but you STILL have diabetes. You can CHANGE YOUR LIFE and CHANGE your treatment and GET help with mental illness but there is always going to be a f*cking illness and it is always going to be a management of that illness. Not a f*cking just "la de da, choose to get better, sunshine and daisies, now I'll write a f*cking book."

P.S:

In todays society we are literally jumping around political correctness in mental health, which is a dangerous thing to do IMHO. It is no different than doctors acknowledging to people they have cancer or such just because they want to have it, when they actually don't have it.

I agree with this btw. I am just talking about people who actually have legitimate PTSD.
 
Wow, so many responses. I sort of had a knee jerk reaction when I posted, then I went and reran the episode. I think he used bad terminology and has no understanding of what severe PTSD really is.

But just adds to me going out into the world, trying to make some friends, then trying to explain what I have to deal with daily to manage my PTSD/dissociation etc. I'm afraid it's more fuel for the fire to say, 'you just have to be stronger and move past it' response. Yeah..........like I'm not strong.

Just pissed me off a bit.
 
TLight, what you maybe miss is that you're already strong by going out into the world to do what you have to do, with PTSD already.

I have noticed the awareness level regarding PTSD is on the rise. TV shows and the media must be viewed by the audience with caution, it is first and foremost about ratings.
Nicolette and I joke about it on mainstream series when watching them in bed or such, A Gifted Man: http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Diagnostic Criteria for Personality Disorder (Comparison of DSM-IV DSM-5 old DSM-5 new.pdf

I think the last three or so episodes we watched of this show, in two the lead character immediately raised PTSD as a cause for their mental health issues, without even asking the person anything further.

When the psychiatrist got hold of them, it wasn't PTSD in either case... one was PTS, which once they spoke about the trauma they suddenly had little issue again. Thus, not PTSD... because just speaking about the trauma doesn't fix shit with actual PTSD.

PTSD is becoming so intertwined and confused with normalcy, it is being diluted towards nothing more than having the common cold. Those at the severe end of the spectrum will become quite frowned upon of whether they even have PTSD or whether it is something worse, as PTSD is becoming the common cold.
 
Just to add from a personal journey. And honestly, I think ptsd could be better understood if people started listening to personal stories. Diagnosis is for treatment purposes only, to understand is to know someone and listen to them.

But Ive been brought up to tough things out. My fathers a policeman, and I've been taught from an early age to take responsibility for my mistakes, take it as a lesson learned and don't let fear cloud my judgement of situations.

It helps in immediate danger, but it also helps me stay in abusive situations. I would and did never go to my family to say I don't know how to get of this situation, because I feel I would have been frowned upon for being a wimp.

In later life I was part of a group that followed similar principles of facing fears, taking life as self responsibility and not blaming others or being a 'victim'. When I was attacked again, those beliefs were used to manipulate me into keeping quiet.

So whenever anybody tries to judge the world on a narrow view it will always misguide someone who listens to it and decides they know it all.
 
PTSD is becoming so intertwined and confused with normalcy, it is being diluted towards nothing more than having the common cold.
I don't know what we would do without Anthony Intelligence! And in my opinion it proves if they can find a means of billing some will be severely diagnosed!
 
Such an interesting thread. I have watched the clip now. I have always really liked the guy being interviewed, although I know very little of his work or as a person, I just recognise him fro a couple of things and he seemed to be a caring person. I don't know, how much can you tell about him from the interview? Other than he does inspire a lot of people and try to help. I think he was trying to be helpful, and really wasnt about PTSD, but trauma in general, which is what his series is on about.

What was difficult about this thread was in trying to find the video I found this article (I would not look at it if you are worried a veteran/combat-realted/manslaughter/murder etc would upset you. I think anyone would find this whole story upsetting for many reasons though, which is why I have ignored it completely, apart from this article: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/sgt-ro...esearch/story?id=15970059&page=2#.T3JqidmcySo )

I think when PTSD (or other illnesses/disorder) becomes linked to serious crimes or reported as The Cause (remember this post isn't about the man who is being charged, more about how the media report these things), then there is a perception problem that could run wild. I do not want to have someone thinking I am about to go off the rails and physically hurt someone because I have PTSD, but there is potential for this sort of thinking to happen - thankfully, there are medical profs who stick up for those suffering with PTSD, and this comes through in the article. The most violent I have ever been was punching a cupboard door. Only a door, not a person, and anger not aimed at anyone except myself. I dread to think what the Scottish tabloid papers are saying about the incident but I hope it isn't all concentrating on "PTSD makes people violent", because you just can't make a symptom that occurs in some (aggression/anger) apply to all and then add a bit to it that says "may even attack and try to kill". Sorry, no, awareness is just being raised in the UK (or it feels like it is starting to), and I would hate to see awareness go backwards!

I'm not sure about the PTSD/common cold thing. I thought there were many factors taken in when diagnosing PTSD? I can only assume misdiagnosis occurs due to the medical profs being incapable of a proper psych assessment, or it is deliberately done, and then they are not fit to be in the medical/mental health profs. Not sure. There is no way the NHS can cope with the amount of mentally ill people, so I like to think they do their best to never misdiagnose. I wasn't diagnosed with a label until a lot of questions, until a long time after the major trauma, and I had never heard of it, and I never understood it, really, as a diagnosis for years. It's the longest cold I have ever had if it is just a common cold;), I wish every day had been a sick pay day. Seriously, it feels like brain damage, or someone evil stole my brain and wants to torture me (sounds funny but true). Maybe one day I will walk on fire like Oprah (*TLights link to Todayshow*), and I will be stronger (note: sarcasm).
 
The problem in my opinion is our US systems are so broken. The medical profession has to work with the code system. To survive they can only work with a percentage of medicare patients as they only receive about 15 percent of what they bill. Patients are scheduled 7 minutes, and that includes the time to review a chart. We are supporting close to 20 Million unregistered off our SS and oddly have about the same amount of unemployed, that was about 6 mo ago!
 
I can't actually hear the interview as I have no sound on my pc. So I'm just reading what others are saying and apologise if I'm wrong.

But from what I can gather, this is a life coach, not a psychiatrist? So it's irresponsible of him to be talking about diagnostic labelling on TV at all.

If there is a problem in the US about over-diagnosis, then it is a problem with one countries health system. Its another generalisation that this is something that happens the world over.

Certainly in the UK, it works very differently. The more serious or long lasting the illness, the more it costs the NHS. The NHS is a political hotrod and is held very accountable on facts and figures. On top of this, there is currently a shortage of mental health practitioners, so if they can keep people out of the therapy room, they will. There also still exists a very English attitude towards mental health, that it is due to a weak mind, that most people can just deal with life and we don't want to end up like the U.S. (no offense to U.S citizens, but that is the media attitude here).

So from what I can read, the tv discussion shouldn't be about PTSD at all, but should be about a country's health system and social attitudes towards disadvantage or difficult circumstances.
 
Tony Robbins is the richest life coach there is, a motivational speaker - he's a circus huckster of major caliber.

His choice of words are typical of media types - what is the best 'sound-bite' and saying you can have post traumatic stress disorder or you can have post traumatic growth is a perfect 'sound-bite'. It's glib, it appeals to normal people, and it's really easy to remember. My husband worked in major network television for 25 years - the media are slime who only want to make money. Bending things to be most dramatic sells stuff.

The US health system isn't nearly as broken as they portray it. I've worked 16 of my 20 years in medicine in non-profit hospitals. People do not get turned away - the EMTALA act doesn't allow anyone to be turned away from a hospital. The mental health system is short on PTSD psychiatrists because of the lack of recognition of PTSD in psychiatry in general. The over-diagnosis of PTSD is like the over-diagnosis of ADHD - people who don't specialize in PTSD making the diagnosis of something they really don't understand.

Finally - there are people in the world looking for an excuse. I had a patient a few years ago who told all the nurses he had PTSD and that he would wake up violent from anesthesia because it took him back to his days in Vietnam. I pointed out - very gently - that the guy was 12 years old when Vietnam ended and that if he had PTSD it wasn't from Vietnam and that if he woke up violent I would have to use chemical restraints so that he didn't hurt himself coming out of surgery and anesthesia which would probably be unpleasant, he decided he could probably wake up just fine. And he did. But how many times had that patient pulled off his Vietnam Vet PTSD story - ?????
 
I have emailed a letter to Tony Robbins enterprises - which I'm sure will be read by some underling who will say something pithy and blow me off. However, since my husband still has all his TV connections, I'm also going to see whose cage he might rattle in this obnoxious fete. I'll keep y'all posted.
 
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