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Thread: Is this PTSD?

  1. #1
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    Is this PTSD?

    18 months ago I had to report a colleague for an incident which was unacceptable at work. As a result there was an investigation by management and the police and as a result I ended up being off work for 7 months with depression and anxiety. I am haunted by the incident and am terrified of meeting this person. I avoid places where i think I might bump into him, and my confidence has plummeted to zero. I feel a victim in all of this but have not been treated as a victim. It has been seen as I was doing my job, no matter how difficult it was, and that is the end of it! I cant forget what happened, and being in the workplace and with my other colleagues make me feel so anxious. The incident had a knock on effect for everyone and I feel that I am responsible for the whole thing. I am still suffering from the after effects of this incident in a big way, and find work very challenging. Is this PTSD and if so how is it different to normal anxiety and depression?

  2. #2
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    Re: Is this PTSD?

    Bearcrazy

    As with many disorders these days; there is a definative criteria that is set out by the American Psychiatric Society to which you need to be assessed by in order to be diagnosed formally with PTSD.

    This is NOT to say that you are not struggling from severe anxiety as a result of the distressing event at work.



    PTSD is one of the widely recognised anxiety disorders. It has only existed as a formal diagnosis in the past 20 years as outlined by APA (American Psychiatric Association in1980, the DSM-III (the Diagnostic and Statistical Model of Mental Disorders- version 3 ) 1980 and WHO (World Health Organisation) in1992).


    A diagnosis of PTSD using the Diagnostic and Statistical Model of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) can only be made after a person has been exposed to an extreme traumatic stressor involving direct personal experience of an event that involves actual or threatened death/serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of themselves or others and following such an event where the persons response involved intense fear, helplessness or horror, which results in the patient struggling to manage their life as they did before the event.




    The diagnostic criteria for PTSD as outlined by the American Psychiatric Association is as follows

    APA (1994) diagnostic criteria:

    The person was exposed to a traumatic event that involved (A1) actual or threatened death or serious injury and (A2) their response was one of fear, helplessness or horror.

    The traumatic event is persistently experienced in one or more of the following ways (B): recurrent recollections; recurrent dreams; flashbacks; intense cue-sensitivity; physiological reactivity

    Persistent avoidance of things associated with the trauma, in three or more of the following ways (C): avoiding thoughts; avoiding activities; inability to recall; diminished interest; detachment; restricted affect; sense of foreshortened future.

    Persistent increased arousal, in two or more of the following (D): difficult sleeping; irritability; difficulty concentrating; hypervigilance; exaggerated startle response.
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  3. #3
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    Re: Is this PTSD?

    Thanx Meg,

    it seems to fit most of the criteria, but i suppose in the grand scheme of things it doesnt really matter what sort of anxiety it is, the treatment will be the same!

  4. #4
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    Re: Is this PTSD?

    Hi,
    I read your post and the excellent reply.

    I would encourage you to google a string such as "PTSD+DSM-IV" to see the full list of symptoms. I would also recommend you see a GP and explain how you feel and what you suspect.

    I disagree about trauma only causing PTSD. There have been many cases where workplace bullying has resulting in PTSD. You might like to check out www.bullyonline.org and see if your situation is discussed there.

    PTSD is quite unique in it's symptoms and I regard the "dead givaways" as exaggerated startle response (startle easily), foreshortened future, difficulty in concentrating and memory, hyper-vigilence and of course depression and anxiety.

    I hope this add's too what has already been said.

    Antipodes

  5. #5

    Re: Is this PTSD?

    You should really visit a specialist to find out for sure. Regardless of what type of disorder, it is interfering with your life and should be treated. My life has improved dramatically after having worked with my psychiatrist to resolve my PTSD issues.

    I found an article that nicely sums up the symptoms as well as how to avoid the flashbacks.

    http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22185/25415%20/?CMP=KNC-DC_YSM_6

  6. #6

    Smile Please give me some guidance how to turn my life around for the better

    Hello there,

    My life was threatened in August, 2004. I know that I have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. My life with my ex-husband was violent, filled with homelessness and he loved to live life on the edge. We were in trouble with the police. I was so gullible that I was brain washed that it was wrong before God for me to leave him.

    I have been in a state of panic since August, 2004. My friends bless their hearts have taken me into their homes. I have not been able to calm down in all of this time.

    The increased anxiety is that I have moved 11 times since then. Even though it was kind of each friend to take me in their were major stressors in every situation. The friend that took me in first lived in Boston and was unable to cope with being pregnant with the fifth child. She raged at her partner often which triggered me. I had insufficient funds to move out.

    I finally did save enough funds to return to California. My sister told me that she did not want me to come home. My heart broke and I know that the proper adult thing to do is follow thru. I prayed and sensed to stay in Boston for two weeks. Meanwhile my friend found me a live-in job for an elderly neighbor in Gulfport, Florida. It seemed like my chance to climb out of my economic disaster. I moved to Florida and two weeks later she was put on morphine and the police were called to check me out as she stated that I was hurting her. The hurt that she admitted after the police left was that I forgot to show her how to spell my name. I bounced around for for two months.

    Then I was able to get a small cottage by myself for six months. I got a job working 20 hours a week in the deli/bakery at the local grocery store. I stabalized and the homeopathy worked.

    I returned to California May, 2006. I assumed that I would bring that stability with me. I wanted to live with this friend for one year and stabalize. My boss from the healing center had her own personal crisis and went back to her drug addicted boyfriend. I left that home after three months. I did not have identification that matched. The special department in Sacramento Department of Motor Vehicles admitted to the Boston social worker that they did not even read her letter. So it took three months to have identification that matched. Due to my traumatic state of mind I did not feel able to seek out work as I did not want to explain why my driver license and my social security card did not match names.

    I moved in with a Rabbi. She took me in when she did not have room for me. Her room-mate was attacking me verbally a lot. I did not have the capacity to find a new home. This situation was three woman living in a small condominium and all of us had Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome.

    After I landed in the hospital I realized that I took eveything too serious and I had a reactive approach to life. I called another friend who offered me shelter a year ago and I wanted to know if I could stay there. They offered me free rent to enable me to get back on my feet financially. By this time I was only able to work eight hours a week. I did save some money.

    I received a call on February 14th, 2007 that an apartment in a low-income complex has opened up for me. I was so excited to go home and to have affordable rent and the chance to get my life back. After two days I had a serious anxiety attack and I have stayed there ever since February 17th of this year. This low-income apartment is in the same complex where my ex-husband found me in 2004. I know that there are tools to calm down and I have not succeeded yet. I have done the basic tapping method. The homeopathy is not succeeding in working since I left the small village nestled upon the lovely view of the bay. I am working with a therapist that does hypnotherapy. Please give me encouragement and suggest some tools how to manage my life. I know that I have to take this one step at a time. I am just so distressed that I can not figure my way out of this emotional homelessness and this constant vigelant state of existance.

    I know that my explanation is lengthy. I just did not know how to shorten the story at this moment in time. Thank you, Edy

  7. #7

    Re: Is this PTSD?

    This article was a great resource to me. I learned about many symptoms for the first time, and that have really been key in my case. Thanks a ton!

  8. #8
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    Re: Is this PTSD?

    thanks for that link mayzie i kinda put ptsd behind me not wanting another thing..........but that link just told me all..........wish yas all the best........linda
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