Could this be PTSD

Hi all!

Not sure if this goes under PTSD, or just "life events", or if it's just my regular old anxiety popping up again.
2019 has so far been one of the most stressful years in my life.
It all started in spring when my 10 year old daughter was diagnosed with a serious eating disorder. The following months after her diagnosis can only be described as a "psychlogical hell" as eating disorders, although treatable, test your mental health and resolve as you are trying to help and treat a family member who doesn't want to be helped at all.
Just 1 month after my daughter was diagnosed, my mother had a massive heart attack. She recovered well from it and is doing well, but according to her doctors, she was minutes away from death.
Thinking things can't get any worse, my mother-in-law was then diagnosed with skin cancer.
My brother-in-law has been dealing with a cancer scare of his own, whilst my sister has been fighting depression and alcoholism.

Strangely enough, things could have been worse, as almost all of these emergencies have resolved well.
My daughter is a lot better and has made a great recovery. My mother is also doing well as is my mother-in-law who found out that, after her operation, that her cancer hasn't spread.
Things could be better with my sister, but her husband (brother-in-law) has received good news from doctors regarding his suspected cancer.
So right now life is more or less back to normal.

However I have been starting to experience heightened anxiety and depression symptoms right now. I don't know if it could be related to the autumn season and the darkness, but my mood has been going up and down like a roller coaster.
One week I'm feeling really happy, only to be sad, depressed and full of self-hate the week after.
I am experiencing physical symptoms from time to time, the most worrying being "internal shaking" that I experience with a duration of 10-15 seconds after I wake up from a nights sleep or an afternoon nap.
My ears are ringing and I have recently become sound sensitive and I'm experiencing a weird feeling that I can't really describe.. it's like I'm really tense inside and when I move it feels like I get a mild "body-shock".

I have always heard, and probably experienced myself, that after stressful events anxiety symptoms can show up, almost from nowhere.
Could it be, after these crisises, that I'm in a type of PTSD? Or is it more that it's "just" my anxiety popping up again?

Wow - it sounds like you've had to deal with an awful lot of negative events this year - no wonder you're feeling stressed! Have you spoken to a doctor or therapist about this? Make sure you take time out to do things that relax you, and things that you enjoy.

God you have been through an awful lot, and it does sound like it’s catching up with you now. I’m so pleased that your daughter and everyone else are doing well.
I’d definitely speak to a doctor about it, they will completely understand x

Intense stress for a period of time can cause PTSD.

I also agree that you should talk to a therapist. It's the number 1 treatment for stress related anxiety.

Thanks so much for your replies!
I've been on anti-depressants for ever..(Citalopram) and I'm due for a renewing of my prescription. My GP has asked that I get a regular check up to see how things are going, and I'll bring it up with her that I've been feeling a bit "shaky" the last couple of months.

You've done a fabulous job helping your daughter recover from an ED, Mango. She will be forever grateful.

I would file this under incredible stress rather than PTSD. Either can be destructive to your mental health, but you have seen at least a partial resolution to the issues you've been facing and PTSD is most often caused by uncontrollable events that leave emotions unresolved.

Ears ringing are usually a result of severe muscle tension, and the time of year can affect your mood too. I think you're simply a victim of 'perfect storm' situational timing. Try taking a good quality vitamin D supplement to help alleviate potential lack of summer sun issues.

I don’t think it’s PTSD,extreme stress Mango.:hugs:
Are you seeing someone outside your GP,maybe a Psychologist x

I don't think it's PTSD either, because I suffer with that amongst other things. PTSD normally occurs after a shock incident or a time of severe endurance of unpleasantness. Although someone may correct me on that.
It sounds to me that you are in high sensitised mode and would fit your current issues of people around you with illnesses and putting strain and worry on yourself.
This is not a permanent state and comes down after time. x

Thank you all so much for your replies! They are very comforting and helpful.
No, I suppose it isn't PTSD. After I read up a bit about the condition, PTSD is, as you have written, a result of a sudden, traumatic, shock-typ incident, like a car accident, assault, military conflict, etc, etc.
I read a book about eating disorders where the very competent author stated that parents in a family where a child has been suffering and been treated for an eating disorder develop, in her words, PTSD.
I'm not sure if she was exaggerating the "post-stress" situation and using PTSD as a means to simplify her explainations, but probably, as others have written, PTSD is probably a condition that gets thrown around a lot incorrectly.

Strange thing is though, during all that time during the summer, when all these bad things were happening, the anxiety I felt was extreme and suffocating, but at the same time it felt strangely "genuine".
It was an anxiety that was based on real, life-threatening situations in the real world, as compared with my usual GAD/Panic anxiety that I've been dealing with most of my adult life which is more diffuse, and based on distorted thinking coming from my low self-esteem.

However, I suppose my nervous system is in a high sensitised mode right now as it's trying to fill an "anxiety vacuum" not that things in my life have calmed down. My brain is finding other threats in my life, which in reality are more benign.

Everything you said makes total sense, Mango. I think it's time to take care of you.

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Originally Posted by Mango2

Thank you all so much for your replies! They are very comforting and helpful.
No, I suppose it isn't PTSD. After I read up a bit about the condition, PTSD is, as you have written, a result of a sudden, traumatic, shock-typ incident, like a car accident, assault, military conflict, etc, etc.
I read a book about eating disorders where the very competent author stated that parents in a family where a child has been suffering and been treated for an eating disorder develop, in her words, PTSD.
I'm not sure if she was exaggerating the "post-stress" situation and using PTSD as a means to simplify her explainations, but probably, as others have written, PTSD is probably a condition that gets thrown around a lot incorrectly.

Strange thing is though, during all that time during the summer, when all these bad things were happening, the anxiety I felt was extreme and suffocating, but at the same time it felt strangely "genuine".
It was an anxiety that was based on real, life-threatening situations in the real world, as compared with my usual GAD/Panic anxiety that I've been dealing with most of my adult life which is more diffuse, and based on distorted thinking coming from my low self-esteem.

However, I suppose my nervous system is in a high sensitised mode right now as it's trying to fill an "anxiety vacuum" not that things in my life have calmed down. My brain is finding other threats in my life, which in reality are more benign.

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PTSD isn't only caused by one single episode always. I don't know if what you have is PTSD, but I do have episodes of my ears ringing when I am triggered and retraumatized. Regardless, what you have been through has been really hard for you and I definitely think it warrants you talking to someone about it. Really, in the space of a few months, you had legitimate fears that you could lose not just one loved one, but a number of them, of course that's traumatising.

Sending love. X

You can also experience trauma without experiencing PTSD.

I can't think of anything worse than worrying about a sick child, so trauma is there, but the reaction to it is sounds more like prolonged and extreme stress.

It's rare to experience PTSD without experiencing flashbacks or re-living the source of trauma. It's that mental dissociation that's the real definition of PTSD. It's like switching off your 'now', and being instantly zapped into literally reliving that moment, quite often it will feel completely real.