Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) | INFJ Forum

Complex PTSD (C-PTSD)

Trifoilum

Trifoilum

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Dec 27, 2009
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I have CPTSD. What is it you are interested in knowing?
 
UBERROGO said:
How'd you get it?
Click to expand...

Hmm, well I guess it's nothing I don't sort of mention in my blog.

Ehh by being sexually abused for a number of years as a small child combined with being trapped in an abusive home enviornment with no option of escape for most of my life.
 
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If you live in the US right now you'll either get PTSD or borderline instead of this diagnosis. That doesn't mean you have borderline, it means you have C-PTSD which is entirely different but they have to label you something for insurance and diagnostic purposes so you might get a borderline diagnosis but they are NOT the same.

You get complex-PTSD after years and years of ongoing abuse.
 
Borderlines toe the line of psychosis. C-PTSD is an injury, not an illness. C-PTSD is something that gets better when someone heals, Borderlines are more...cured. If that makes any sense.
 
CindyLou said:
If you live in the US right now you'll either get PTSD or borderline instead of this diagnosis. That doesn't mean you have borderline, it means you have C-PTSD which is entirely different but they have to label you something for insurance and diagnostic purposes so you might get a borderline diagnosis but they are NOT the same.

You get complex-PTSD after years and years of ongoing abuse.
Click to expand...

This is precisely what happened to me.

CPTSD is a relatively new diagnosis and it shares a lot of symtoms with BPD so people usually get misdiagnosed.

I was diagnosed with BPD when I was 18, but the more time went on the more it didn't seem to fit. I was having some serious issues with my psychiatric care, but every time I tried to complain or make a fuss they would roll their eyes and say "Ughh typical borderline behaviour....she's going to scream for a while, just ignore her!" Treatment didn't work for me because I wasn't getting the right care.

After two years of fighting my counselor came back and agreed with me and changed the diagnosis in my file to CPTSD and I've never had a problem with the doctors again.

I don't think it's usually a massive deal...the treatments for both disorders are very similar these days from what I can tell.

I'm about to start Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, it's the treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder, but they have discovered people with CPTSD or treatment resistant depression make huge progress with this type of treatment also.
 
....Eeep. I didn't expect someone being affected with this disorder. I'm so sorry to hear it; I hope you'll get the necessary treatment and be able to get better ASAP. *hugs [MENTION=5297]Neverwhere[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4871]CindyLou[/MENTION]*

I'm still wondering, what's the difference between C-PTSD and BPD?
I get a feeling that C-PTSD is more....nuanced, more pervasive form of PTSD;
at least in real life it's one disorder which symptoms is not as 'explosive' in appearance as PTSD (or at least the way media portrays the disorder). C-PTSD seems....self-sabotaging. Or imploding.
Am I right in that assessment?

Questions; I do have some. I apologize beforehand if my words offend any of you. >_< @Neverwhere @CindyLou
What sort of treatment works for C-PTSD? From @Neverwhere 's story and your plans, it appears behavioural therapy seems to work better for you than say, medication?
I'm personally conflicted about the wording; what sort of abuse causes C-PTSD? As in, how long? How severe? How helpless one's got to be? >_>
And if I may get a bit personal, how does the disorder affect your life?
From just the wikipedia article I get the impression that C-PTSD affected one's self perception -and- relationship with other people...just like PTSD.
But again, the nuance seems to portray C-PTSD as something that's a tad more pervasive and subtle and self-affecting.
Not a -reaction-, but a -distortion-.
Less 'alien invasion' compared to PTSD, more 'house of mirrors' ?
 
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I wonder if I had been suffering from C-PTSD from that situation I had described here one time. I was numb for a good month or two, then the flashbacks started up and I was having severe panic attacks randomly. I basically locked myself up in my apartment for the better part of 3 or 4 months. From what I could figure out for myself, all the intense feelings of terror I should have felt in the heat of the moment during the struggle came back, in the heat of the moment I they switched off. I had recounted acting quite cool and level headed through it, thinking clearly and pragmatically. Even when I was running across town without any shirt or shoes and cutting my feet on broken glass from busted bottles on the railway tracks... cool as a cucumber. I think when I had de-stressed enough and felt safe from harm, my mind released all the pent up emotions from that terrible night... and I did end up in the ER at 4AM thinking I was dying because of the weight in my chest. They put me on Ativan for a while and it eventually subsist, but things feel differently now than they used to. I feel like "sanity" however we described that is.. really quite fragile, if it exists at all. I believe all humans are fundamentally crazed beasts who have been civilized with comforts... erase the prospect of those comforts and the beast arises. I can never close that door... Its hard to describe the way it feels. There is a door of knowledge in my brain that's open that slowly seeps in poison, and I cant close it.
 
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Trifoilum said:
....Eeep. I didn't expect someone being affected with this disorder. I'm so sorry to hear it; I hope you'll get the necessary treatment and be able to get better ASAP. *hugs [MENTION=5297]Neverwhere[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4871]CindyLou[/MENTION]*

I'm still wondering, what's the difference between C-PTSD and BPD?
I get a feeling that C-PTSD is more....nuanced, more pervasive form of PTSD;
at least in real life it's one disorder which symptoms is not as 'explosive' in appearance as PTSD (or at least the way media portrays the disorder). C-PTSD seems....self-sabotaging. Or imploding.
Am I right in that assessment?

Questions; I do have some. I apologize beforehand if my words offend any of you. >_< @Neverwhere @CindyLou
What sort of treatment works for C-PTSD? From @Neverwhere 's story and your plans, it appears behavioural therapy seems to work better for you than say, medication?
I'm personally conflicted about the wording; what sort of abuse causes C-PTSD? As in, how long? How severe? How helpless one's got to be? >_>
And if I may get a bit personal, how does the disorder affect your life?
From just the wikipedia article I get the impression that C-PTSD affected one's self perception -and- relationship with other people...just like PTSD.
But again, the nuance seems to portray C-PTSD as something that's a tad more pervasive and subtle and self-affecting.
Not a -reaction-, but a -distortion-.
Less 'alien invasion' compared to PTSD, more 'house of mirrors' ?
Click to expand...

From what I understand people can suffer from BPD for a long time and still be very successful and appear normal on the surface. A lot of people with BPD appear more "perfect" or "normal" than average and that is where a lot of the trauma comes from. A lot of them come from families that have "perfect family syndrome", meaning they are brought up to be exactly what the family wants them to be. They are often told that any sad or negative feelings they have are invalid. They store in emotions in order to uphold this perfect image. And they truly believe their emotions are invalid. I think there are a lot of negative/false stereotypes about people with BPD. People think BPD sufferers are completely psychotic and incapable of controlling any emotions. When in reality some of them are too good at controlling emotions and that is what causes the trauma. According to Wikipedia, 25% of people who suffer from BPD experienced no form of abuse as a child and there is a genetic predisposition to it.

CPTSD, which I didn't know about until just now, appears to be very similar. But people with C-PTSD appear to have almost always experienced trauma, hence the name. So perhaps a big difference between the two is that one is always caused by trauma and the other is not always related to trauma.

Also we need to keep in mind that there are financial incentives for diagnosing people with this stuff. People in the psych industry need people like this for business. So I suspect many of the people diagnosed with these disorders really just need to figure out life a bit but are being told they have serious disorders. These are not actual illnesses, they are just disorders. They are vague and so diagnosis is somewhat subjective.
 
[MENTION=5375]chulo[/MENTION] to some extent that kind of reeks of BS.

Firstly, medical issues can also be disorders. Both oft he disorders mentioned are mental illnesses trying to act like it's not a form of illness feels a lot like downplaying it to me. It's actually kind of insulting especially to people who suffer severly with this stuff. Go have a chat with anyone who's been hospitilised over either of these disorders and maybe that will change your mind.

Also, what's the point in comparing two illnesses if you've just said you know nothing about one of them?
 
@chulo

I understand your point, and I agreed with most of your points.
With the last point, I agreed with Neverwhere that your post can come across as tactless at best, and at worst pushing a certain agenda while invalidating people who's diagnosed with two disorders in question. Especially your latter sentences...

Besides, to even claim financial bias in all this, I'd have to ask you in sincerity and earnestness; do you know what medications are used in people with C-PTSD? Are they different with the drugs used for BPD and/or PTSD?
I admittedly don't, but if the medications and/or treatments are comparably similar, I think with the similarity, the point is somewhat moot. However, I digress.

Just because the diagnose is made up, doesn't mean there aren't people who benefitted from the treatment...
 
Though the symptoms may be similar on paper, C-PTSD and BPD or more likely co-morbid (co-existing) than synonymous. Or another way to look at it is that C-PTSD is a symptom or indirect result of BPD. So most people suffering from BPD probably also exhibit C-PTSD, but not all C-PTSD sufferers have BPD.
 
For me, C-PTSD is from living an autistic life without ever knowing that I was autistic and what my problems were. I ended up creating my own prison. I am both the prisoner and torturer of my C-PTSD Hell.
 
There are financial incentives to diagnosing any illness or condition, especially in non-medicare states like the U.S. However, it is significantly easier to de-legitimize the work done by psychiatrists because their field is the only one (in western medicine) which doesn't allow them to use tests as proof for diagnoses. A cardiologist does a quick interview and runs a series of EKG/ECG tests and bloodwork, an oncologist runs their own series, and so on. A psychiatrist must rely on communication alone. And while I agree that some disorders are probably overly-diagnosed, and mental health is unduly pathologized, C-PTSD and BDP do NOT come across as light-hearted disorders. Patients may be mis-diagnosed, as was Neverwhere's experience, but the depth and frequency of symptoms is rather persistent and noticeable, so much so that it's not actually easy to slap either of those labels on a patient, and if you do exhibit symptoms which warrant a diagnosis, you're dealing with something pretty impactful. I'm not a mental health professional, but from what I understand it seems you have to have some very specific experiences and troubles to meet the criteria for a diagnosis; the criteria are kind of stringent.
 
Neverwhere said:
[MENTION=5375]chulo[/MENTION] to some extent that kind of reeks of BS.

Firstly, medical issues can also be disorders. Both oft he disorders mentioned are mental illnesses trying to act like it's not a form of illness feels a lot like downplaying it to me. It's actually kind of insulting especially to people who suffer severly with this stuff. Go have a chat with anyone who's been hospitilised over either of these disorders and maybe that will change your mind.

Also, what's the point in comparing two illnesses if you've just said you know nothing about one of them?
Click to expand...

Sure, medical issues can be disorders =). They aren't real illnesses though. They aren't caused by a virus or a bacteria. They aren't caused by the immune system acting in ways it shouldn't. They are disorders that can be cured with communication, people just need to learn to communicate.

I hate having to prove shit because I shouldn't have to. But trust me, I'm not completely ignorant about psychological disorders. I just wasn't familiar with C-PTSD, probably because it's not even considered in diagnostic systems. I've lived with a person who had PTSD from fighting in Afghanistan. And I'm very very close to someone who has been to a psychiatric hospital. I also have a friend who has been to one as well. Don't mistake my humility for "knowing nothing".

And no, talking to people with disorders is not going to change my mind. They are disorders not illnesses.
 
Trifoilum said:
@chulo

I understand your point, and I agreed with most of your points.
With the last point, I agreed with Neverwhere that your post can come across as tactless at best, and at worst pushing a certain agenda while invalidating people who's diagnosed with two disorders in question. Especially your latter sentences...

Besides, to even claim financial bias in all this, I'd have to ask you in sincerity and earnestness; do you know what medications are used in people with C-PTSD? Are they different with the drugs used for BPD and/or PTSD?
I admittedly don't, but if the medications and/or treatments are comparably similar, I think with the similarity, the point is somewhat moot. However, I digress.

Just because the diagnose is made up, doesn't mean there aren't people who benefitted from the treatment...
Click to expand...

I'm a business major. I see the world for what it really is; a business. No I'm not educated about the medications used to cure these things. I'm not a fan of medications. My counselor tried to get me on Zoloft for a while but I refused because I knew the problem was something different. In my opinion these are modern problems that people develop from being poor at communicating. At least that was my experience.
 
chulo said:
Sure, medical issues can be disorders =). They aren't real illnesses though. They aren't caused by a virus or a bacteria. They aren't caused by the immune system acting in ways it shouldn't. They are disorders that can be cured with communication, people just need to learn to communicate.

I hate having to prove shit because I shouldn't have to. But trust me, I'm not completely ignorant about psychological disorders. I just wasn't familiar with C-PTSD, probably because it's not even considered in diagnostic systems. I've lived with a person who had PTSD from fighting in Afghanistan. And I'm very very close to someone who has been to a psychiatric hospital. I also have a friend who has been to one as well. Don't mistake my humility for "knowing nothing".

And no, talking to people with disorders is not going to change my mind. They are disorders not illnesses.
Click to expand...

What's the purpose of defining something as a disorder and not an illness?
 
chulo said:
I'm a business major. I see the world for what it really is; a business. No I'm not educated about the medications used to cure these things. I'm not a fan of medications. My counselor tried to get me on Zoloft for a while but I refused because I knew the problem was something different. In my opinion these are modern problems that people develop from being poor at communicating. At least that was my experience.
Click to expand...

It's great that you knew you needed something else. It's also nice to recognize that your experience may not be everyone's experience, not because they're ignorant about their problem, but because their biology might be different from yours and their physiological needs or processes may require a different approach.
I'm sorry if this is coming across as condescending; that's not my intent, your posts are just kind of mind-blowingly out of touch and narrow-minded, to be honest. And the saddest part about it is how they de-legitimize people who are already struggling with something rather difficult in a world where mental illness is synonymous with stigma. Way to perpetuate.
 
chulo said:
Sure, medical issues can be disorders =). They aren't real illnesses though. They aren't caused by a virus or a bacteria. They aren't caused by the immune system acting in ways it shouldn't. They are disorders that can be cured with communication, people just need to learn to communicate.
Click to expand...

Well not quite that simple. But I agree that most mental disorders are reversible. Mental disorders are vastly complex and require equally complex methods to undo them. (Which is a system I am working on as the main focus of my research into psychological disorders.)
 
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