Attachment - Not Sure if I Have PTSD

insomniakat · #1 23-04-2008, 01:32 AM

A therapist I saw a year ago thought I might have PTSD. I read 'I can't get over it,' but couldn't relate to a lot of the book. I can't relate to a lot of psychological books because I don't have a firm grasp of the concepts of attachment, connectedness, familial love, platontic love, romantic love, trust, loneliness. I'm also asexual, so there are feelings of attraction that I have never had. I have some feelings in spades...like feeling guilt over stupid things sometimes.

Is anyone here emotionally stunted (since childhood)?

I thought I had schizoid personality disorder, but a shrink told me that I didn't have it. It wasn't until I read the wiki on complex-PTSD for children that I thought the therapist might have been on to something.

Children's C-PTSD symptoms off wiki that I was referring to.

Quote:

Attachment - Uncertainty about the reliability and predictability of the world, distrust and suspiciousness, social isolation, interpersonal difficulties, difficulty attuning to other people's emotional states and points of view

Biology - hypersensitivity to physical contact, analgesia, somatization, increased medical problems

Affect or emotional regulation - easily-aroused high-intensity emotions, difficulty deescalating, difficulty describing feelings and internal experience, chronic and pervasive depressed mood or sense of emptiness or deadness, chronic suicidal preoccupation, overinhibition or excessive expression of anger

Dissociation - distinct alterations in states of consciousness, amnesia, depersonalization and derealization

Behavioral control - poor modulation of impulses, self-destructive behavior, aggressive behavior, sleep disturbances, eating disorders, substance abuse, oppositional behavior, excessive compliance

Cognition - difficulties in attention regulation and executive functioning, problems focusing on and completing tasks, difficulty planning and anticipating, learning difficulties, problems with language development

Self-concept - lack of a continuous and predictable sense of self, low self-esteem, feelings of shame and guilt, generalized sense of being ineffective in dealing with one's environment, belief that one has been permanently damaged by the trauma

anthony · #2 23-04-2008, 09:08 AM

Hi,

Because a therapist says they "think" you might have PTSD, it doesn't mean you do. Shrinks are saying you don't even, as you have been to them. You CAN NOT self diagnose... you will create the symptoms in your mind as you read them. What you read is not the overall assessment for an illness either, instead the theory aspects of diagnostic criteria that you read on the Internet are only one part of the process. You met another part by seeing a shrink, you weren't diagnosed because you likely did not meet many of the actual specifics to a diagnostic platform.

You need to seek professional local help to determine what is wrong, if anything. Because you endure some trauma in your life, does not mean you have PTSD.

insomniakat · #3 24-04-2008, 03:50 AM

You misunderstood my post, especially given the edit to my title.

I'm asking if PTSD at a young age can cause one to be "emotionally stunted" and/or have attachment issues.

As for your reply, my therapist did not actively diagnose me with anything (except for the obvious depression and GAD for the insurance companies). After few sessions, I told my therapist that I thought I had schizoid personality disorder. She then told me that she had been working under the assumption that I had PTSD.

I made an appointment with a shrink to find out if I had SPD before I terminated therapy. I only mentioned SPD and told him I wanted to find out if that's what I had. He read over some mental health history stuff I'd typed out before the apt, talked to me for 5 minutes, said that I did not have SPD, and diagnosed me with bipolar type II. He sent me out the door with meds. Our followup apts are about 10-15 minutes long and are only about medication. Incidently, I'm not altogether sure that I am bipolar, and I am mostly taking the meds in an attempt to fix my sleep, which has really not worked out so great. I've read a couple of bipolar books and...I'm not sure about that either.

My therapist recommended another therapist that works with personality disorders for a second opinion. I saw her for one session, and she told my original therapist that she did not feel that I had SPD. That's all I know, because that's all I asked about.

I quit therapy after that, thinking I should just try to get my meds straightened out. A year later and I'm right back to where I started. I'm wondering if perhaps my original therapist was on to something, which is why I started researching again.