Reasons for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

[Suezoled]

To an extent, I can see PTSD is useful; it helps to avoid a potentially life-threatening (or negatively life-altering) situation in the future. However, certain triggers seem to stimulate PTSD even in a safe situation, and some incidents of PTSD can come about even without conscious triggers. What, after all, is the point of nightmares reliving the incident and causing emotional distress? If there's such a strong instinct to live, why is there regret if for some reason you didn't die but others did? For what reason does one have a sympathetic response in sharing stories that are similar to one's own?

[bpesta22]

There's a guy at my university, whom I know personally, who is one of the world's leading experts on PTSD

He does a lot of expert witness type cases for various lawyers-- at least he used to.

He was flown somewhere to interview a plaintif about her PTSD (plane crash survivor).

During the interview, he allegedly groped / fondled her.

How's that for irony!

[Rolfe]

Why does there have to be a reason? Sometimes stuff goes wrong, reactions get out of hand, allergies, autoimmune disease, phobias, anxiety syndrome and so on.

In a way it's like asking what advantage there is for humans to be prone to appendicitis. None that we know of, the body just isn't perfect.

Rolfe.

[Dancing David]

Since I veiw the brain as a set of attenuating and potentiating reverberations it makes sense that a strong experience that 'floods' the brain would set up some very strong potentiations.
Some people seem to be more vulnerable than others.

[waitew]

The main reason,of course,is that it can be used the same as soft tissue/whiplash sorts of 'injurys' to claim government benefits $ no one can prove it aint so.

[Boo]

PTSD in my case is does not so much help me avoid life threats but to acknowledge that I need coping mechanisms. Denial and sublimation of pain will only take you so far.

Talking about shared experiences tells us that we are not alone and that our reactions to a situation are common. This may sound like common sense, but, the reality is, it is not.

The nightmares are the brains way of testing the healing. It's similar to pushing on a bruise or walking on an injured limb. Finding out if it still hurts and how much. It also serves a purpose of building up a layer of scar tissue over the injury.

It took me many years to acknowledge that mental pain is as damaging and real as physical pain. It also took several years of talking it through, reliving the incidents and taking medications to find balance again. I have good coping skills and am not dependant on medication to maintain a 'normal' demeanor.

I can, now, talk about and use my past experiences in teaching others without worrying if I will start to cry.

In my profession the average career life was about 3 years before individuals had to leave. They were 'burned out'. They could no longer be compassionate or provide basic care. When I first started, almost 20 years ago, we were not told of the stress and how it could effect us. After untold number of divorces, abused spouses and children, and lives lost to alcoholism and drug abuse, our profession has acknowledged that prolonged stress is unhealthy and that providers need to be taught how to cope with that stress. Career life is up to 7 years now.

Everyone is different. For some it only takes one incident, others (like myself) it takes many years for the coping mechanisms to be overwhelmed.

That is what PTSD is, the coping mechanisms for stress have been overwhelmed. Almost everything in daily life becomes a stressor, compounding the pain. If you have never experienced then you are fortunate. I would not wish it on anyone.

I maintain a constant vigilance on my stress level and reactions to stressful situations. I can recognize when I need to re-evaluate and conciously apply coping strategies. I still have a family, a career, my life and my sanity, which is more then many of my friends and co-workers have.



Boo

[Dancing David]

Quote:

Originally posted by waitew
The main reason,of course,is that it can be used the same as soft tissue/whiplash sorts of 'injurys' to claim government benefits $ no one can prove it aint so.

Woo hoo hahahaha

shows how much you know about applying for disability benefits. I helped people do it for over twelve years and getting benefits is much harder tha you would think, the bar is much higher of mental illness than even back pain.

edited for content of snipyness

[Dancing David]

Quote:

Boo
I maintain a constant vigilance on my stress level and reactions to stressful situations. I can recognize when I need to re-evaluate and conciously apply coping strategies. I still have a family, a career, my life and my sanity, which is more then many of my friends and co-workers have.

I never had much vicarious trauma when i worked in mental health but in the domestic violence field it is much more of an issue. I haven't seen PTSD in myself or my fellow employees yet but our agency does suffer from theis 'free floating anxiety' that just seems to attack employees at will and without warning. Then they get all wierd and hard to work with for a while.

My problem is that I bond with the kids and then get to say goodbye to them when thier moms mess up and they get departed from the shelter.

Sometimes I cry.(But my own PTSD was resolved ten years ago through a lot of process oriented group therapy.)

[Frankie]

PTSD is becoming far to fashionable to have. Just like with children who think being a si'der(suicide) is hip.

Those that genuinely have it need cognitive behaviour treatment. Which involves being exposed to the event or events that caused PTSD. Some also get relaxation therapy tapes but they only work on those who have such a personality. There is also the use of drugs to help the person through the desensitisation period. Is it a real disorder or not, also depends on who you talk to. Same as with Depression that was once a non illness.

Somebody is PTSD does not react in the same light as somebody not having it. They either over react or not react. THey are a danger not just to themselves but to others around them. Anybody that says otherwise is kidding themselves or does not know the illness for what it is.

Talking with others who have PTSD helps in appropriate venues only. Getting treatment is essential. Finding that treatment is not always so easy and readily available. Don't give in insist on getting professional medical help.

Those who do not know I'd suggest doing some reading before commenting and making a sufferer suffer some more with your insensitive callous comments.

PTSD

Frankie.

[Rolfe]

Rolfe.

[Suezoled]

Quote:

Originally posted by Frankie
(snipped)

Somebody is PTSD does not react in the same light as somebody not having it. They either over react or not react. THey are a danger not just to themselves but to others around them. Anybody that says otherwise is kidding themselves or does not know the illness for what it is.

(snipped)

PTSD

Frankie.

Okay Frankie. Thanks for your input Frankie. Whatever you say Frankie. You're the expert Frankie. You know best Frankie. Maybe you better play with your dog dog Frankie (the 3 month or or the full grown dog, the Russian or the Bull terrier...whatever it is this week)...

[roger]

Another way to look at it is that perhaps PTSD _is_ useful, to the extent that fixing it results in some other condition getting worse, where that condition has a negative impact on chances of reproducing successfully.

There's also the concept of 'local maxima'. Think of a range of mountains, some are lower than others, yet they are the tallest point in the immediate vicinity. Treat this as the landscape of possible genetic makeup (needs more than 3 dimensions, obviously), where the height of the mountain is fitness to reproduce. Well, in many cases there is just no way for evolution to shift the genetic makeup enough to get to another peak, because any change results in worse survival. If the distance between the peaks is far enough, or the height from the local maxima down to the local minima (the valley floor between the 2 mountains) is too large, then evolution will never, ever, be able to optimize the genes to that higher peak. You are stuck.

[Dancing David]

I assume all responsibility for the derailment of this thread:

[poke with stick]

Quote:

posted by Frankie
THey are a danger not just to themselves but to others around them. Anybody that says otherwise is kidding themselves or does not know the illness for what it is.

That is just a line of outrageous bull, worthy of the HammeGK Drive By Assertion Award. I am a survivor with PTSD in my past, I have worked with a lot of people with PTSD and continue to work with people with PTSD.

They are not a danger to themselves in general and I have never met one who was a danger to others.

You apparently subscribe to the theory that having a reactive anxiety disorder excuses behavior and somehow makes some one 'special'.

I don't care who you are Frankie, but that is a narcissistic load of crap. I have worked with people with DID and BPD as well, they are more likely to harm themselves and at very low risk for harming others.

Thanks for adding to the glut of crap about PTSD.

[/poke with stick]