Tortured In California/possible Ptsd

[Deleted member 30651]

It's harassment (not "voices"), and I think it's illegal. And no, my parents are not really in a position to help.

 

[falling_wave]

It sounds like either schizophrenia which generally begins early adulthood late teens or a brain tumor can do that. Try to see your doc asap. Sorry you are struggling with this! I hope they can figure out why and help you. No one should have to hear those kind of things.

 

[Chava]

This has been ongoing but you have no idea who is doing it or can never see them? Are they in your house or outside your house?

This doesn't sound like PTSD but you need to check with a doctor or psychologist...take good notes of what you are experiencing, and your symptoms.

 

[Ronin]

@skiestreeslakes, what has been going on in your life other than that harassment?

Have you told anyone (other than us) about experiencing this? Have you told your parents? Other than assuming they can't help, without informing them.

 

[Deleted member 30651]

No, it's not schizophrenia. I have seen a doctor. I've tried to describe the situation to a few friends and acquaintances, but they weren't in a position to really help much. My parents are older, divorced, and my father probably has Alzheimer's or dementia.

 

[Chava]

No, it's not schizophrenia. I have seen a doctor.

You told a doctor about all of this? What did s/he say?

p.s. we can't diagnose you, that's for sure (but again it doesn't sound like PTSD, but certainly troublesome for you)

 

[Ronin]

Point being they're hallucinatory voices, regardless of which diagnosis on a psychotic spectrum it falls into.

There's nothing wrong with schizophrenia itself, what's important is to get appropriate treatment for the issues, even though the illness is so stigmatized, that wouldn't be anyone's priority to worry about.

You need a medical attention, if one doctor didn't work, try another, try a line of them until you find someone who CAN help. I appreciate it can be rather difficult to insurance and accessibility, but one practicioner simply isn't enough to see for a complex issue.

 

[falling_wave]

Watch "What its like to have Schizophrenia.avi" on YouTube

Is what you are experiencing anything like this? Mental health is so misrepresented in movies etc. Everyone should able to address and solve their issues without worrying. I agree with @Cashew

 

[Deleted member 30651]

OK. To be clear…what I heard was real harassment, but I think one of the effects of the harassment might've been a kind of PTSD—nightmares and maybe hearing some of the comments repeated later. I think I've heard the words "censorship" or "soft censorship" at times, but I'm not sure if that's accurate. I'm confused. For a while before the divorce I was living with my dad, who was yelling constantly, threatening to kill me. That combined with the harassment created a really toxic environment.

 

[Chava]

You haven't answered many of the questions here. Did you actually tell the doctor about all of this? What did he/she say? Can you ever see who is harassing you? Does it sound like they are inside, or close to you? I'm not saying it wasn't real...just trying to understand. But usually verbal harassment doesn't cause PTSD.

 

[Friday]

So you've got 3 options

1 - Someone is actually saying theses things / the noise is present in real time... In which case you should be able to track them down. Whether it's a person or a television show your neighbor is watching, the noise has a discrete source.

2 - Intrusive thoughts / memories (not actually happening in real time)

3 - Auditory hallucinations... (Not actually happening, although one is hearing them in real time)... Which can have many, many causes. From medication, to an injury, to a medical condition (such as a tumor, or mild seizures), to a hallucinatory disorder (there are many types, schizoaffective is one of several... some are caused by leisons often following stroke, others by sleep disorders / the brain is essentially catching up on missed sleep while awake and still partially dreaming!), some are caused by damage or infection to the ear or inner ear (endaural phenomenon).

None of these 3 things are PTSD, although the second one is a symptom of PTSD, that would be memories of things that had once happened and are not happening now... Intrusive thoughts are a symptom in about 50 different disorders... It's not something that helps identify any specific disorder.

 

[Ronin]

Other thoughts -

Is it possible you've misinterpreted some background noise as conversations / human voices, and because you wouldn't discern the original noise clearly, they'd turn up threatening?

Aka can you check for unknown source sounds in your environment? Identify everything in your apartment & proximity first, make sure you understand the space around you & what brings up what?