Can you get PTSD from excessive melts?

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Claradoon
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17 Apr 2007, 8:51 am

Griff wrote:
Claradoon wrote:
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The flashbulb refeeds sound like flashbacks, which can be debilitating.
I'm not sure if it's vivid enough to really count, though.


People tend to downplay things that bother them. If the flashbulb refeeds are intrusive, that counts.

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The thing with trauma is it never goes away.
Then I never suffered from any such thing. I thought it was a condition that could clear up over time. Apparently no. Learn something new every day.


Sorry! I meant "if untreated." Trauma can be helped or cured, but it doesn't go away by itself.



0_equals_true
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17 Apr 2007, 9:01 am

PTSD is very specific to a particular traumatic event like rape. It is not a successive thing at all. It is more like that you will develop other disorders or phobias. But 'meltdowns' are symptomatic of that it is cyclical. Don’t think because you are AS you should get help for NT problems.



Griff
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17 Apr 2007, 11:59 am

After further reading, it looks like PTSD might arise partially from overtaxing the adrenal cortex and other stress response systems, in which case it may be possible to develop it if your melts cause a severe fight or flight reaction. It's basically the after-effects of your body poisoning itself on its own hormones, coupled with psychological traumatization that can serve to protract it. Since most people only experience the symptoms for a period of about six months (even after unusually severe trauma), then it isn't entirely out of the question that I could have suffered from it to some degree. However, I only have the account of my memory to go by, and time may have skewed my perception of events. I do recall a lot of symptoms that call PTSD to mind, but I don't think that I'll make any assumptions.

Just to be clear, though, my meltdowns really are pretty wretched. On occassion, I've had to be restrained, and this is only when they aren't so severe that I'm unable to move myself from the foetal position. Really, I've mostly moved past this era of my life, but I just want to be clear that I'm not out to belittle those who have suffered from true trauma. My meltdowns may be caused by problems with my own brain chemistry, but they result in the same kind of self-poisoning. Again, I'm not sure if it's enough to result in PTSD symptoms, but I don't want to receive any ridicule for thinking it might.



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17 Apr 2007, 1:33 pm

Griff wrote:
Just to be clear, though, my meltdowns really are pretty wretched. On occassion, I've had to be restrained, and this is only when they aren't so severe that I'm unable to move myself from the foetal position. Really, I've mostly moved past this era of my life, but I just want to be clear that I'm not out to belittle those who have suffered from true trauma. My meltdowns may be caused by problems with my own brain chemistry, but they result in the same kind of self-poisoning. Again, I'm not sure if it's enough to result in PTSD symptoms, but I don't want to receive any ridicule for thinking it might.

You won't get any ridicule from me. Just wanted to PTSD in the only severe disorder that can develop from these things. There are others that are just as severe but less well known. You just need to find the right one to get the right treatment. One thing I've heard about PTSD is it is usually cause by a very violent or abrupt event that you are not expecting (car crash, shooting). So the more that you have these meltdowns if you haven’t got PTSD already your more likely to get something else.



Claradoon
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17 Apr 2007, 2:44 pm

0_equals_true wrote:
One thing I've heard about PTSD is it is usually cause by a very violent or abrupt event that you are not expecting (car crash, shooting). So the more that you have these meltdowns if you haven’t got PTSD already your more likely to get something else.


I agree that we should be very careful about what it might be. Also I'd like to mention that they've expanded the diagnosis to include chronic trauma, including events in the home, mostly due to the work of Dr. Judith Herman (may heaven rain blessings on her):

http://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Recovery-Judith-Lewis-Herman/dp/0863584306/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-4135478-5700616?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176838559&sr=1-1



KimJ
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17 Apr 2007, 3:04 pm

Yeah, like I said earlier, it's not that what you're experiencing is "okay". It's certainly not. We're just trying to separate PTSD from other likelihoods. I know it comes across as some kind of competition for suffering. I have a hard time with that because I have some neurosis from my own background, but definitely not PTSD while my husband definitely has it. He can get really defensive if it sounds like I'm whining about abuse or trauma.
Someone in a blog was describing what he thought was symptoms of PTSD. It was a rather startling and serious story. But someone came and said it sounded like some other treatable problem (conditioned phobia). So, there are conditions out there that have similar traits and symptoms.

I also want to say that Dr. Temple Grandin describes autistic brains as having more fear-based emotions. Natural occurences can cause full anxiety attacks (annoying noises, blinking lights, startling sounds). She eventually went on anti-anxiety meds and anti-depressants to control this.



Griff
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17 Apr 2007, 3:31 pm

Oh, no, it's not that. It's just I feel anxious in the first place trying to play the self-diagnosis game, particularly retrospectively and based upon half-remembered experiences and feelings. The main question is whether it's possible for a severe meltdown, when one is already in a weakened psychological and physical state (such as from prior melts), to lead one to such issues. I don't know if my own experiences are relevant in this regard, but I'm trying to get enough of a grasp on the subject to determine whether there's any such possibility. I should have researched the issue first, then asked a more specific and technical question.



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17 Apr 2007, 4:48 pm

Griff wrote:
Oh, no, it's not that. It's just I feel anxious in the first place trying to play the self-diagnosis game, particularly retrospectively and based upon half-remembered experiences and feelings. The main question is whether it's possible for a severe meltdown, when one is already in a weakened psychological and physical state (such as from prior melts), to lead one to such issues. I don't know if my own experiences are relevant in this regard, but I'm trying to get enough of a grasp on the subject to determine whether there's any such possibility. I should have researched the issue first, then asked a more specific and technical question.

Like I said from my knowledge PTSD is not about successive experience. It an instant thing. Though it can have a delayed reaction of years. There are plenty of disorders that are successive most of them are. But yes worrying a about it is bad because you are developing a cycle of behaviour that could develop into a disorder (and don't underestimate). If you can remove the link in the cycle it can't continue.



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17 Apr 2007, 6:11 pm

0_equals_true wrote:
But yes worrying a about it is bad because you are developing a cycle of behaviour that could develop into a disorder (and don't underestimate). If you can remove the link in the cycle it can't continue.
Hehehe, I'm driven mostly by curiosity, and the only worry was that I'd stepped on someone's toes in my pursuit of it.



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17 Apr 2007, 11:07 pm

It seems to me that symptoms of stress after trauma would vary widely, and a lot happens outside of the official definition of PTSD.



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17 Apr 2007, 11:28 pm

Some people seem to be more prone to developing PTSD than others. Most studies show individuals vary greatly as far as the amount or type of trauma that can cause it depending on their mental capacity for such and personality differences and coping strategies. They think each individual has there own "breaking point" that is reached before it develops.