Self Diagnosing PTSD and Other Mental Health Issues

[Mari9999]

Is anyone else struck by the what seems like a significantly high number of women who describe themselves as suffering form PTSD ? Is it possible that these women are all self diagnosing ? Usually they attribute these conditions to what are seemingly every day life conflicts.

Many other say that they cannot work because of their mental health. Has there been some drastic increase in debilitating mental diagnosis that render women disabled and physically incapable of working? Are these women all capable of qualifying for disability benefits?

AIBU to think that this cavalier attitude towards mental health makes it difficult for women with medically diagnosed issues to be taken seriously?

It also seems that every second woman claims to have been married to a narcissist or for their current partner to have a cheating narcissist as an ex?

What ever happened to simply coping, being responsible, and owning one's behavior?

So it does irk me when posters make it out to be incompetence, malice or a deliberate withholding of services. The system isn’t broken as such, we are breaking it.

The system is broken, and some clinicians are incompetent and try to withhold services. Both can be true.

The consultant psychiatrist I referred to didn’t engage with my daughter at all throughout the consultation. She ended up hiding under a chair at the age of 9. He claimed to have no knowledge of research in the area of developmental trauma and argued that she would be fine if I just loved her enough. He was also the rudest, most condescending man I’ve ever spoken to.

The system is broken, but some of the staff are shocking. My DDs therapist on the other hand, I couldn’t praise highly enough.

I was replying to somebody saying nobody with PTSD should need time off work because her husband, who has Proper PTSD from being in the army (different to flakey female PTSD from personal trauma) apparently didn’t.

I am aware some people work and some people can’t, and I held down a demanding job myself following EMDR treatment (which didn’t completely cure it, but made it manageable).

My point is there never was. My family has been in the MH system for well over 20 years. There never was help aside from meds. Much reliance on charities which have all but disappeared.

But now people are just encouraged to draw the curtains and lie in the dark ruminating over their problems. There’s a lot to be said for basic self care.

Yep, self care has turned into a shorthand for mindfulness, candles and yoga (which have their place) but basic self care - caring for your body, home environment and sleep hygiene - is essential for wellbeing. Not always easy, and certainly not exciting but makes a huge difference to mental health.

😂😂😂😂😂😂

I actually feel we're almost pressuring people into MH problems. It's seen as abnormal to have periods of stress or sadness. Anxiety about school or work is seen as a crisis. We are expected to be happy all the time, in every area of our lives, with not much effort. It is no surprise people think there is something wrong with them and are looking for a diagnosis.

@Jellycatspyjamas I would physically want to hurt your daughter's psychiatrist and he'd probably diagnose me with hysteria.

I agree. Normal feelings are being attributed to MH illnesses.

@Jellycatspyjamas I would physically want to hurt your daughter's psychiatrist and he'd probably diagnose me with hysteria.

Thank you. My DDs presence was the only thing that stopped me telling him exactly what I thought of him - instead I argued her into a service he didn’t want to provide, which I’ll take as a win.

So many people neglect their health, don’t exercise, don’t try to go to sleep at a reasonable time, spend all their time on screens then wonder why their mental health is poor.

If I’m having a shit day, my first port of call is to tidy/clean the house and get some fresh air, even just a 15 minute walk. I always feel at least 50% better after this.

Bully for you.

Have you any idea how bloody patronising you sound?

People neglect their health and don't exercise etc because of their mental health problems.

I’m staggered by the amount of “I have ADHD” posts I read on MN.
Would be interesting know how many of them are actually professionally diagnosed or Dr Google diagnosed.
It’s like it’s become a trendy thing to have a label.

I think you've nailed it.

For so, so many people, life is utterly shit. It's easy to start retreating by saying "I don't want to do X because I think I have Y" and from there it can snowball into a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I think it's also tied up with very poor physical health in a lot of cases - pain, lack of confidence and energy tied to terrible nutrition, fitness and health care.

I have diagnosed PTSD. I feel like I am trapped in hell. I manage to work but I have barely told anyone because I know that it sounds like it’s nothing & it will just be dismissed.
Perhaps it is because mental illnesses are watered down with people self diagnosing & even making jokes about it, using it as a throw away comment?

Great post.

Part of the issue is that people are interpreting others saying they are anxious or have a narcissistic ex as being mental health claims.

Someone saying they are experiencing anxiety is not a claim that they have an anxiety disorder.

Someone saying their ex is a narcissist is not a claim that their ex has a personality disorder.

Also, any health condition can be a disability under the equality act; that doesn't mean the person is claiming disability benefits or is not going to work.

Millions of women experience domestic abuse, and many of them will end up with anxiety disorders and/or PTSD. And they will carry on working and living their lives with mental health issues, many of which hopefully reduce over time.

And people will carry on belittling them because society doesn't care about domestic abuse, and we will keep on offering them CBT and no access to a psychiatrist because our mental health services won't accept CBT doesn't work most of the time and there's no money to sort out the system.

So women... DA, your fault, CBT not working, your fault, no access to psychiatrist for diagnosis, your fault.

I have cPTSD, I was diagnosed with PTSD prior and I'm not completely sure if it was an updated diagnosis or an additional diagnosis tbh

I don't really want to share what led to me being diagnosed to justify it as real to the internet but it wasn't insignificant, neither would I want to achieve a following by discussing it on TikTok - I do find that strange, it's way too traumatic for me to want it to be what I'm known for publicly

I also fully believe in taking responsibility for my actions in the world and not justifying behaviour that isn't acceptable as "I cant help it because I have this"

But online people will post about things that they would feel less safe to share if not anonymous and I think it's mostly the chronically online who assume that everyone is just self diagnosing over normal life shit

I believe there is a tiny proportion of society that sees claiming a mental illness as an entry into a "community" and something that they can gain attention, followers and promo deals from- I struggle to understand living it why people would want to be part of any "community" around it

But that's just me, and I don't know if it's genuine- I might just not understand someone else's response to an entirely different set of circumstances they went through than myself, so I'm skeptical but won't declare it as fake either

Mental health issues are chronically underdiagnosed because mental health services are under funded (and always have been).

Humans in modern society do have a lot of trauma and most of us are dealing with some degree of mental illness. It is just not recognised and diagnosed because we simply don't have the resources to help everyone.

Also, it is somewhat irrelevant. If someone thinks that they have PTSD then whether or not they are actually diagnosable, that's a cry for help.

I have a clinical psychologist CPTSD diagnosis.

I worked for 40+ years. I did so until I just couldn't do it any more. Being considered 'odd' or 'dramatic' or 'freaky' because I adapted all manner of elements of my life/work life to minimise (not obliterate) triggers.

I agree people can experienced PTS without developing PTSD. I think there is a tremendous amount of ignorance (and desperate attention seeking, perhaps?) that makes people jump to demanding others believe they have a disorder.

For example, I have obsessive compulsion around certain areas, but I do not have obsessive compulsive disorder. I would never assume to claim to experience the same level of distress and life-impact someone with that disorder has. That's why I get iinfuriated when people who have PTS claim to have PTSD. They are doing genuine sufferers of PTSD a very serious disservice by minimising their reality.

I can look back on my 60+ years and identify times when I have experienced anxiety and/or depression due to situational issues - exams, job interview, new job, family concerns, breakup, divorce, bereavement etc.

But these these events, although very real and very distressing, are a million miles from the CPTSD symptoms that plague my existence every single day.

So what is it you think is happening people are declaring themselves unfit to work and scamming the benefits system? Without diagnosis and are they living comfortably by doing this? Please tell me how to do this if it's so easy 🙄

I’m diagnosed (by a professional not myself) with Generalised Anxiety, Social Phobia and Agoraphobia.

The thing that I’m seeing is a lot of “if you do ABC you probably have XYZ” on tik tok and reels.

Also it’s frustrating hearing someone who has a normal amount of anxiety play on it and mis-diagnose themselves as having an anxiety disorder. Anxiety is normal and everyone gets anxious but I think a lot of people, especially those on social media are confusing or confused about the difference between having anxiety, and having an anxiety disorder.

Which, when everyone left right and centre is claiming to have an anxiety disorder means us that are genuinely struggling and need help aren’t listened to.

I really think there needs to be much better awareness and education about what is normal and what isn’t when it comes to mental health, and also what help is appropriate.

Psychiatrists are medically trained, qualified and specialised

They understand the organic causes of mental illness

Anyone can call themselves a therapist, without even 2 GCSEs

Obviously a Psychiatrist knows what they are doing 1000x better than a therapist.

It is the nature of severe mental illness that Psychiatrists work in a specialisation where their patients are less likely to be cooperative or to make a realistic judgement about their skills and abilities than any other specialisation