Should I seek diagnosis of cPTSD?

[UndertheCedartree]

I had to fill in some questionnaires for my therapist after she looked at them she said my scores indicated cPTSD and asked me if I had that diagnosis. I don't but I do have EUPD which I am on medication for.

Would there be any point in getting a further diagnosis? To be clear I think the EUPD diagnosis is correct. I'm just wondering if there would be any benefit to me having cPTSD as an additional diagnosis?

Anyone?

Hey, I'm sorry I have no idea, I just wanted to say I'm glad you've asked for help.

There are lots of people on MN WHO DO know this stuff, so hopefully someone will be along soon.

my friend just got dx with c -ptsd from her childhood. We knew it had caused problems, but I wish I'd helped her push for more help earlier, she's usually very anti talking to therapists etc though so it was hard to push.

cPTSD and EUPD are different with different treatments so accurate diagnosis is important.
It's possible to suffer with both, it's not an either/or situation.

...but they are highly correlated and many would say one leads to the other (cptsd-eupd)

Is your therapist a psychologist? If so they could give you the "diagnosis" formally. It's really a description of your life experiences and their consequences but if it would make you feel more comfortable to have it on your medical records why not find someone who will formally make that happen?

Thank you and I'm glad your friend is getting help.

Yes, I realise that. If you know, could you give me an idea of the different treatment please? I'm trying to work out if I would get any different treatment if I was diagnosed with cPTSD as well.

She is part of the psychology team but a trainee. I'm not really looking for a diagnosis for validation but only in order to get the right treatment. So I'm just wondering if I would get anything different if I was diagnosed with cPTSD. I am under a psychiatrist too.

It depends where you are and what's available. MBT and then DBT is sometimes recommended for EUPD but if you've got a cPTSD diagnosis you might need a more trauma informed therapy/therapist. Ideally I suppose you'd get longer term therapy like psychodynamic with someone who is able to integrate a trauma informed approach. Have you / can you go private? Marcus West is quite good on this subject.

I've done DBT as an inpatient and now I'm doing Schema therapy in the community. But it is on the NHS and only for 4 months! I did try going private when I was waiting for therapy in the community but the therapists I spoke to said I needed to stay within the NHS due to the MDT. I wish I'd stayed in hospital and done Schema there as I would have had it for as long as necessary. My psychologist in hospital in 2 years pushed and pushed my home trust for what therapy they would offer me but she got nowhere. Her reports detailed what I needed which was not a wait of 2 years for 4 months of therapy!

I think I'll speak to my therapist this week and see if she thinks I could get more suitable therapy if I got that diagnosis.

How frustrating you are not being offered what you need/so little of it.

Schema therapy can be appropriate for cptsd too. But you will defo need more than 4 months. Ask the trainee because they will be supervised by a qualified psychologist. Sometimes EMDR can be helpful but what you really need is an experienced therapist and more time.

There is no ICD-10 diagnosis of complex PTSD and most people with this have a diagnosis of EUPD. It is good you are receiving therapy anyway, as this isn't available to everyone. Both DBT and schema therapy can be extremely helpful. If I were you I'd discuss your diagnosis with the psychiatrist at your next appointment (psychologists don't make diagnoses) and continue with the therapy offered to see if it works for you. You're extremely unlikely to get psychodynamic therapy on the NHS these days, or any longer-term therapy really.

And next time round vote for a political party which properly funds the NHS (in case you didn't last time)... If more of us did that maybe we'd have better provision available.

Also you probably shouldn't rely on information you receive from anyone on here (including myself) as you have no idea of their qualifications or experience, and things do differ dependent on where you are in the country. It's a good idea to start by talking to your therapist (you don't say what they're a trainee in) as they will be getting supervision from a qualified therapist or psychologist. This should help you to get a realistic idea of what is suitable for you and what is available.

Fulbe - Psychologists can and do diagnose. We just prefer not to as often diagnoses are not helpful. For example, a diagnosis of EUPD can be incredibly limiting for people due to the prejudice and stigma many healthcare professionals hold towards those this with diagnosis. Our psychiatry colleagues are much happier to diagnose because diagnosis fits more easily into the medical model. Psychology prefers to ask 'what has happened to you?', psychiatry tends to prefer to ask 'what is wrong with you?'

There’s a significant overlap between EUPD and cPTSD and while they can often both be present, they can also be misdiagnosed one for the other. Long term relational therapies are considered helpful for cPTSD because they help with the relationship challenges that come with complex trauma, but often that will include things like working on emotional dysregulation which is a common feature in people with either diagnosis.

It might be worth asking your therapist whether they think formal diagnosis would make a difference to your treatment, to be honest I’d expect any therapy for EUPD to come from a trauma informed place so, within the limits of the NHS the additional diagnosis may not make much of a difference.

Fulbe - Complex PTSD is in the ICD 11

Tell me about it...I've been trying to get help for a very long time and finally thought I was going to get it...

I've never bloody voted for the Torys, thanks!

Well, actually information given to me on here has helped a lot. I don't need to know someone's exact qualifications or experience to get a few words of advice. She is a trainee psychologist. Often getting information from the professionals is like getting blood from a stone. As I already said my psychologist tried for 2 years to get information from my home trust. That's why I end up turning to Mumsnet which gives me some good pointers within a few hours. But don't worry I won't rely on anything you have said...

But without a correct diagnosis how can we get the help we need? We won't get to see the psychologist in the first place to ask 'what has happened to you?' without a diagnosis! I was only able to receive excellent care from a psychologist by being diagnosed with EUPD and being referred to an EUPD unit. I don't think you're helping someone with EUPD if you refuse to diagnose them because some healthcare professionals are useless. So they just end up in and out of hospital without proper medication or therapy?

Thank you, that's very useful and along the lines of what I was thinking.