Hi Cheryl, welcome to the site. I am the spouse of a sufferer of PTSD, so I can't tell you much about the symptoms you may be experiencing, or if you may have it or not. But from what I have been reading, there are defenately different levels, or severities, of PTSD. I would venture to say if you have experienced any trauma in your past, no matter how severe it was, and it causes you to feel unsettled as a result; be it anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, or jitteryness in certain situations; then yes, you probably have PTSD.
One of the biggest misconceptions of PTSD that I have seen is that people think you have to have been at war, or suffered at the hands of terrorism (9/11) to qualify as having PTSD. But that is not true. Read the posts on this site and you will find people who were abused as children, raped as adults, witnesses to homicide, survivors of traffic accidents....it really runs the gambit. I know that Anthone will be able to better lay out what PTSD is all about, and there is also a survey you can take that will help you assess whether or not you may be a sufferer.
Anyway, welcome! Please visit frequently, and share with us often!
One of the biggest misconceptions of PTSD that I have seen is that people think you have to have been at war, or suffered at the hands of terrorism (9/11) to qualify as having PTSD. But that is not true. Read the posts on this site and you will find people who were abused as children, raped as adults, witnesses to homicide, survivors of traffic accidents....it really runs the gambit. I know that Anthone will be able to better lay out what PTSD is all about, and there is also a survey you can take that will help you assess whether or not you may be a sufferer.
Anyway, welcome! Please visit frequently, and share with us often!