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Why do we have ptsd?

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littleoc

MyPTSD Pro
I have no idea how to title this... hm.

Well, I'm feeling... weird.

I've noticed that of my family members, I seem to be the only one with PTSD.

My mom has been abused and raped as a child. My little brother was sexually abused. My sister almost died twice. My twin brother was violently assaulted, often, by my dad. All of us were neglected and emotionally abused and manipulated, experimented on. My mom was beaten up in front of us by my dad, and that situation caused my twin brother to become deaf, and my sister to cry because she didn't know what to do. My dad, even, has been through trauma, though he possesses no empathy.

So... why do I have PTSD, and not them?

Was it being kidnapped? Was it being raped for a year by a pedophile, was it fire or needles up there or rubbing alcohol? Was it falling unwillingly into a fantasy world and then trying to convince myself it was real?

Is my brain messed up? Was I more prone somehow? Was it epigenetics or some environmental thing?

Maybe my twin brother's Christianity helped him have hope through hard times? Maybe my twin brother had some kind of buffer? Maybe my sister having a different dad than me helped her know what was wrong?

Anyone have an article I haven't found?

Thank you very much for any help.
 
I found this YouTube video about inheriting trauma via genetics (Epi) and through the environment of the child's life -- though it does say at the end that this doesn't guarantee anything.

It's a fascinating video with a bit of good advice.

By SciShow, which means they list their sources and are very trustworthy.

Five minute video: Can Trauma Be Inherited?

I was thinking of my grandfather. He fled Russia before the war -- being a Jew at that time was enough to be targeted.

The other grandfather on the other side was a victim of child abuse and war. He never seemed to have PTSD but I guess he wouldn't have been diagnosed at the time?
 
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That's a big question. One I have been thinking a bout a lot: partly because one of my tactics of avoidance was pointing at others who suffered through similar things and were 'doing better' than me, and because by training I am a philosopher. We're a long way, it seems to me, from a definitive answer.

But you mentioning your grandfather's does brings some things to mind. For example, shell shock, perhaps the first signs of the diagnosis we would later call PTSD emerged, was first mentioned during the first world war. Veterans of the second - particularly American and Soviet (considered the unanimous victors)- had low rates of shell shock compared to WWI and later to those diagnosed with PTSD in Vietnam (when the diagnosis was established). Making sense of our experience - particularly traumatic experience - seems to play a large role in how we manifest them (consider the difference between participating in 'noble war' (e.g. WWII) and an 'meaningless' one (Vietnam, WWI).

Big questions; above my pay grade. But I hear you. My siblings lived through the same emotionally and physically abusive parents as I did, yet they dealt with them and grew in different ways than I did. I think (speculating here) that many therapists deal with this in terms of family systems: we all play different roles and that effects our behaviors and feelings resulting from traumas. My brother, for example (very simplistic example, admittedly), is a caring person who avoids conflict; I am an uncaring (relatively) person who can be very confrontational - but we are playing off the same energy - I want to confront thing he refuses/ he denies. It is very complicated, just like humans; that is why our empathy should guide our understanding.
 
People break in different ways.

We don’t know enough about the brain to even begin to explain why one person gets PTSD, another person a mood disorder, another person a personality disorder, another person turns to substance abuse, another doesn’t react at all, another’s mild disorder blows up into a severe disorder, etc.

10 people can experience the exact same thing, and come out with 10 different results.

It’s part of why trauma is required to have PTSD, but trauma alone isn’t enough to diagnose PTSD.
 
My husband has qualifying traumas, but I have PTSD and he doesn't. Our conclusion? He had a ton of support after his trauma. Loving parents, friends, even an old high school teacher came to visit him in the hospital. His trauma brought him bucket loads of attention and sympathy. Me? I had to deal with my traumas on my own, no support. No one cared. I think I had the right frame of mind (or wrong depending on how you want to look at it) plus a genetic predisposition.

There is a lot of evidence that with the proper support after a trauma, PTSD can be averted. Hubby didn't come out of it completely unscathed emotionally but he doesn't have the struggles of PTSD.
 
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Forget it. You’ve never agreed with anything I’ve said. (This is my first time inter...
It's okay to be disagreed with -- I don't mean to threaten you. I like differing opinions, it helps.

I was also wondering if something was bothering you -- something about your statement seemed like you were hurt.

But no worries. If it's better for you, I understand. I'm sorry if you felt I was attacking -- I don't want to argue either. I'm just curious
 
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