General Wife says she has ptsd, but she's never been assessed.

[Brandon]

My wife says she has PTSD, but she has not been assessed or evaluated for it by a professional (she took an online test). She can point to several traumas in her life (from sexual abuse as a young child to bring drugged a year and a half ago) and some PTSD-like symptoms as her proof.

I'm not saying she doesn't have it, but I would like to know for sure so I know how to tackle it as her support. She gets mad and just wants me to believe her though without finding out for sure.

How important is it to get diagnosed and receive professional treatment? Should I just assume she has it?

I want to support her as best I can. Any suggestions?

 

[Sweetpea76]

Self-diagnosis doesn't help anything.

PTSD is a tricky bugger. You can experience Crit. A trauma and still not have PTSD. The symptoms of PTSD can also be symptoms of other disorders. PTSD is often misdiagnosed. She may very well have PTSD, but nothing is going to get better if she doesn't get the proper treatment. That's why she needs to go to a psychiatrist (whose had years of schooling and preferably specializes in trauma) for a diagnosis and not rely on an online test.

With that being said, it's probably important to her that you believe her. I personally would frame it like this.... "OMG babe, I believe you. This needs addressed so you can begin to heal. Let go get the ball rolling with an evaluation and official diagnosis."

 

[Friday]

What @Sweetpea76 said.

If she still balks try reminding her that realizing you’ve probably got diabetes (or malaria, or are pregnant) doesn’t mean you don’t go to the doctor. It means you do go to the doctor.

 

[Suzetig]

What does us having PTSD mean to her? Is she saying it get you to be a particular way with her, to excuse particular behaviours, or get sympathy? Sometimes a label is about way more than getting treatment so if she won’t seek professional care, but continues to say she has PTSD I’d be asking why she won’t seek help for it.

At this point I think the “oh my goodness, that’s awful let’s make sure you get the help you need, starting with a full assessment” is a good way to go.

 

[James McGregor]

Self diagnosis as others have said means absolutely nothing. If she's so sure she has it, and she may - then she should want to go for a proper diagnosis.

 

[Justmehere]

I'm not saying she doesn't have it, but I would like to know for sure so I know how to tackle it as her support. She gets mad and just wants me to believe her though without finding out for sure.

Don’t make it about you wanting to know for sure if she has PTSD (which is reasonable, but perhaps not that helpful to emphasize right now.)

Instead, validate what you can: let her know you support her seeing a therapist to work through the past trauma, and get some relief from the suffering and pain.

 

[EveHarrington]

Diagnosis requires a professional. Part of this is because what one person may consider to be a “flashback” isn’t an actual flashback by technical standards. Follow this line of thinking down the entire list of ptsd criteria, and you can see why a diagnosis must be done by a professional.

I’d encourage her to seek professional help!

 

[Mee]

I agree she needs to see a doctor, but I would wonder what her hesitation is? My therapist and I have worked out I have fear of being disbelieved as when I tried to alert as a child I was disbelieved so I do not expect to be believed as an adult. I like to have proof for little things.

If you can support her as suggested above it might help her see her Dr.

My position is if someone is someone is claiming to be unwell they are unwell, even if not with what they claim; there is something that needs attention and thus the person deserves support. Good luck

 

[Sideways]

PTSD is treatable. So if she would like to move past the issues she’s currently struggling with? Good idea to get help with that from someone who knows how to treat it. Because knowing how to recover from any mental illness isn’t innate information that we’re born with.

Suggestion that? Is validating her suffering. “Your suffering is real, lets get some help with that”.

Thing is? A person who has experienced trauma and has a mental disorder as a result? Isn’t necessarily suffering from ptsd. There are other mental disorders that can be caused by trauma. A professional will be able to assess exactly what’s going on so that treatment can be directed accordingly.

 

[Bwebb]

Thank you so much everyone for your input. This is good stuff. I really appreciate it.