I want to enlighten sufferers to the facts of diagnosis, and why you may think you have more than just PTSD. PTSD is the worst end of the scale when you talk about anxiety disorders. Again, PTSD is the worst end of the scale. If you have been diagnosed with PTSD and another anxiety disorder/s, then your diagnosis was wrong, or your diagnosis was an estimate made before your PTSD diagnosis given, or your doctor / therapist is simply a bit confused in regard to what a PTSD diagnosis is.

The criteria for PTSD do not outline the same criteria for other anxiety disorders, otherwise the criteria for PTSD would be longer than it is. Why PTSD should only be diagnosed by trauma experts (and these exist loosely let me just add), is that PTSD should not be diagnosed in conjunction with other disorders that are already encompasses within PTSD, hence PTSD is the worst end of the scale. Even saying this, many trauma experts love to label, but in fact they are labelling by crossing paths the moment they diagnose a person with PTSD, they should state, these others are cancelled, because PTSD encompasses them already.

You can't have PTSD and panic disorder, because panic disorder is already part of the PTSD diagnosis. You have to have anxiety attacks (panic disorder) to meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, which stems from your trauma. You have to have General Anxiety Disorder to have PTSD, hence from your trauma. You must have Agoraphobia with your PTSD, as Agoraphobia is a social withdrawal disorder caused by, you guessed it, anxiety, and this social withdrawal component is a major must be met criteria to be diagnosed with PTSD, as the DSM states: The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Again, already encompassed within PTSD, why? Because PTSD is the worst end of the diagnostic scale.

PTSD diagnostic criteria simply outlines in one line, other diagnosis's, because that is what PTSD is, a combination of other diagnostic criteria that when formed together makes PTSD. If you have "panic disorder", then that is curable, if you have "general anxiety disorder", then that is curable, if you have "Agoraphobia", then that is curable. If all these where curable in your case, then you wouldn't be diagnosed with PTSD... would you! Hence why PTSD encompasses these diagnosis often within one line, or even two diagnosis within one line of diagnostic criteria within the PTSD diagnosis. Why? Because PTSD is the worst end of the diagnostic scale.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, because I am continually seeing people struggling harder to understand why they could have major depression and PTSD, when major depression is already encompasses within the PTSD diagnosis, though not everyone with PTSD get the depression side of it, it doesn't mean that it won't come out to bite them later down through the years. Does this mean they have no obtained major depression? No... because they already have the characteristics for it within PTSD, caused by the anxiety, social withdrawal, panic, etc etc.

If you have multiple diagnosis such as these, then in 99% of cases, the diagnosis will be wrong, because if you have PTSD, then your other diagnosis cancels out being encompassed within your PTSD diagnosis.

Lets make this real simple, and I will show you what other disorders are encompasses beside the PTSD diagnostic criteria, as this will give you a more visual aid to help understand.

• Do you have intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event? Do you have physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event? Do you have recurrent, intrusive and distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or perceptions? Do you have hyper-vigilance? Do you have an exaggerated startle response?
  • Acute Stress Disorder (ASD)
    
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
  • Depression Disorders Reside Here Also
    
• Do you avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma? Do you avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the trauma? Do you have an inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma?
  • Dissociative Amnesia, Dissociative Disorders, Any Substance-Related Disorders applicable here
• Do you have markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities? Do you have feelings of detachment or estrangement from others? Do you mix socially with others outside your family? Do you have strong family relationships? Do you maintain a normal, healthy relationship with your partner? Do you cope with everyday situations? Do you cope with your employment?
  • Social Phobia, Agoraphobia, Mood Disorders
    
• Do you have a sense of a foreshortened future? Do you have a restricted range of affect?
  • Major Depressive Disorder, General Depressive Disorders
• Do you have difficulty falling or staying asleep? Do you have recurrent distressing dreams of the event?
  • Sleep Disorders of various types
• Do you have irritability or outbursts of anger?
  • Mood Disorder Due to a General Medical Condition
• Do you suffer difficulty concentrating?
  • Amnestic Disorder Due to a General Medical Condition

Honestly, I am only getting warmed up. As you can see, what people find stressful with multiple diagnosis, is that most of those are already encompasses within PTSD itself. Not all are there, but anything generally to do with anxiety, depression, social behaviour, substance abuse, dissociation, sleep, etc etc... is already in the one big fat PTSD diagnosis. Thinking, worse yet, made to think you have more disorders than you really do is criminal IMHO, and physicians need to have a long look at themselves for going out on labelling binges.

Doctors prove this more and more, with their ties to pharmaceutical companies and kickbacks, your in and out in 5, 10 or 15 minutes, you are labelled with as much as they can theoretically find, they then assign you multiple medications for each diagnostic label, thus they get more money, stats look more like the world is crazy, they look like they are doing something important, bottom line figures improved via kickbacks from prescriptions and pharma companies. Lovely little web, but with little too no regard to the poor bastards sitting on the end of their politically and cash driven motivations.

I want people to stop feeling as though they have mountains to climb, when in fact they only have hills to climb. Most of the diagnosis running around in multiple circumstances like this are wrong if PTSD has also been diagnosed. I will be more than happy to break peoples diagnosis apart for them so they can see what they do, and do not actually have. If you still cannot see what your really have opposed to what you don't, post it here and we will pull it apart and show you.