Poll When Did the Symptoms of PTSD First Appear, After the Initial Traumatic Event?

[Deleted member 12723]

I was diagnosed in 1985. I had several years of extreme symptoms. I am doing so much better now. Alot of the symptoms disappeared. I have anxiety but I attribute that to the caregiving I am doing for my husband who is very sick.

But I am relatively symptom free. I am depressed but again I think that is because I am going through a crises situation.

 

[shoulderblades]

I guess my trauma began when I was a child and more and more trauma was built on top of other traumas the older I got. I've only very recently come to recognize how the traumas have manifested and affected me. I otherwise thought all the things I've been experiencing for many years was normal behavior and that I was making a big deal over nothing, and that I was just a lazy person for not applying myself to tasks, jobs, chores, basically anything that requires basic level of functioning that normal people should be able to do without any problems.

 

[poeticprincess88]

Sometimes PTSD is hard to diagnose. Personally I suffered 12 years of abuse. No one knew about it so there was noting to diagnose. No one ever diagnosed depresion or mood disorder. The PTSD diagnosis did not come until I was going through the legal processs and a pychotherapist asked me questions about my past. I think everyone that's traumatized has some form of PTSD. When they realize it is often years past the time of trauma.

 

[winterose]

I say 6- 9 months because there was a event at that time that I noticed there was something different about me vs others. I might have had other episodes sooner, but I was 16 and homeless. I was too busy trying to keep alive at that point, anything else got pushed back to deal with later. So it's hard to tell if my hyper-arousal symptoms were due to street life or PTSD or the combination of both.

 

[Invisible-Guy]

Anger, As a guy I thought it was the only emotion I was allowed to have as far as coping with trauma. It self purpetuated and caused a lot more trauma. So many things I wish I could take back.

 

[Orglethorp]

Like many people replying to this thread, my traumas were all childhood abuse & rape, and I really can't pinpoint when depression, anxiety and a dislike of physical contact actually became full-blown PTSD, but I know that I passed as 'normal' throughout my school years. None of my friends or teachers ever knew.

I was diagnosed when I was nearly 19, around the same time that I withdrew from my original degree program and switched universities at the end of my first semester. Those first 6 months immediately following high school graduation do mark the first period in my life when my PTSD was truly out of control, but I don't believe that this is when it started. I think that period was so rough for me because of the abusive relationship I was in that summer / leading into the fall and how much that boy reminded me of my father when he got angry. He also happened to be the first person in my life to recognize my symptoms for what they were and ask me about it, but unfortunately he would always exploit them later.

Throughout my teenage years, I'm sure people saw me as a socially-awkward, shy-in-new-situations sort of kid who opened up among friends and was otherwise getting on fine in life. They didn't see the depression. They didn't see the fear in my eyes for what it was. Why would they? The reason I've survived so long is because I was able to put on a strong face and pretend everything was fine. That being said, every protagonist in every story I ever wrote in my spare time in my teen years had a traumatic past or a chronic illness. (I still write about a pair of them now, when I'm in a dark but creative mood, actually. They both happen to be PTSD sufferers, and I've tweaked them and their stories over the years, but they are largely still the characters I created at 13.) I also found myself doing and not doing things because of memories at that age- like avoiding certain public places, even though I didn't have vivid memories of the rapes yet, or how I chose Intro to Law as my 12th grade social sciences credit specifically because I wanted to know what sort of trouble my father would be in if I ever told my story.

 

[Deleted member 18514]

I don't remember as a child the first traumatic events side effects starting, but I know I have been to one degree or another like this most of my life.

But I also know from the experience, where ever something traumatic happens with me it takes bout 3 - 9 months for the symptoms/side effects to start.

I hadn't thought about that till now - interesting

 

[Gamereign555]

The poll might to show that a large number of people associate their trauma to be from childhood, and then later a trauma or compounding of stresses or traumas triggered the onset symptoms of PTSD? Another poll would be needed to draw that conclusion but it is possible. Interesting.

 

[txtrace]

The symptoms started showing up about 8 months after my crash but I didn't want to admit/deal with it (common in my field) so I wasn't diagnosed until about 14 months after the crash, when things had gotten so bad I had no choice to seek help if I wanted to survive.

 

[4gtfl1]

Yeah, it's a natural part of an academy environment. Indoctrination into their world is essential to keeping a tight unit. The problem is that the chain of command must be followed no matter how right or wrong. Lives are often of little concern to the upper echelon. Anyways, the symptoms built up over any years in a dangerous, unhealthy environment.

 

[HOME ALONE]

I have been enduring trauma for as long as I can remember. My life is like a phyllo pastry of crap that heightened as I went through my life. Issues regarding my children brushed on more layers.

What was unimaginable for most was my reality, and continues to be . This reality is my status quo.

 

[Bimble]

Mine initially started around 3 months of the accident, started to manifest themselves as flashbacks, avoidance etc. However, they really kicked off around 11 months after the accident and have continued pretty much up until I was moved away from the location of my accident to a new place of work.

However, in the mix for me were huge confidentiality issues, trust between myself and my manager, huge swings in mood with anger featuring prominently, feeling betrayed and let down by my managers. I have only just begun to feel like I can moderately trust them again, but it's taken a good 2 years to even get to this stage.

It seems to be one thing after another for me and now I face losing my job over not being able to return to my 'contracted' base of work (despite functioning well and having a 100% attendance record since moving). This anxiety has heightened everything again and I just feel like I'm going back to square one with it all. Huge swings in mood, depression, flashbacks coming through again, massive paranoia, even OCD creeping into the mix...really quite a mess.

I tried to return to my contracted base of work using Diazepam to help, but it almost made it worse in a way - I could not concentrate whilst I was there, made me feel more anxious - when I got home the Diazepam had obviously worn off and I just felt a massive surge of anxiety - totally flipped me over in myself. I then had a crappy night, which made it even harder the next day to try again.

In the end I had to give up, for my own safety and well being - I asked if I could continue trying, but in smaller visits, as these clearly worked for me, gradually building up to full days, but they wanted me back there and then. I was referred to Occupational Health and that was the end of my attempt to return to work!!!

I am still visiting the site, have attended small meetings and feel I am able to cope well - I have asked to do this to build up my time there, but they don't want to know. I cannot give them a time frame within which I can return so they are putting me through this disciplinary process where I could lose my job.

Thing is - I am functioning so well here, doing brilliant work and receiving great feedback. I just need more time. After everything I've been through - the humiliation of having my personal notes extracted from the mental health system they are on, my personal health and notes in my managers diary being left on his desk overnight for all to see (seemingly wanted to initiate a grievance then, as he had written in huge writing 'Grievance' detailing their case). I kind of feel I've been earmarked from the outset.

I am now fighting anxiety on so many levels my body and mind, at times, just says STOP. It is becoming harder and harder to function on a daily basis, which just compounds the problems.