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?

I might add that all of my treatment was on the NHS.

I don't think the OP is having a dig at those with genuine trauma. More that the label is being applied to a lower and lower threshold (often without any professional input) which diminishes it's meaning and is insulting to those who have experienced life changing events.

I know someone who claims it from a breakup (which was upsetting but not massively different to any break up, no abuse, discovery of a double life etc) and having been in a relationship with a war veteran who really had suffered, it pisses me off.

It the new 'i have OCD' because you prefer to line up your tins. Not the same as someone who scrubs the skin from their hands and whose whole life is overtaken by rituals..

I don't think the OP is having a dig at those with genuine trauma.

The first line is about the disbelief of the amount of women who say they have PTSD, quickly followed by the possibility of self diagnosis.

If the post was about self diagnosis it would be clear. There is an undertone which dismisses any woman who says they have PTSD. I didn't seek help for many years and the reason for that is the attitude displayed by OP.

Why has OP come along to question whether people are genuine, drop a dig about disability benefits, then disappear from the thread?

What is OP stake here?

It's goady as fuck and anyone reading otherwise is naive.

I don't think the OP is having a dig at those with genuine trauma. More that the label is being applied to a lower and lower threshold (often without any professional input) which diminishes it's meaning and is insulting to those who have experienced life changing events.

Or that we are slowly getting to a place in society where we feel comfortable to speak openly about our mental health struggles - something which was very much and to a large extent still is stigmatised. There's also the dearth of information available online, through social media - from the average woman on the street posting about her travails coping with life to consultant psychs routinely sharing their knowledge. Not everyone has the resources or wherewithal to seek out a professional diagnosis and there are entire demographics who struggle to get a clinician to take their case seriously as a result of various biases - there's a reason why many young black girls, for example, struggle to push past the narrative that any misbehaviour on their part is down to their own rude attitudes.

The OP isn't interested in any of this which is very evident from the way they wrote their post.

And who is to really decide what is 'genuine' trauma? To you a failed relationship might mean just that - relationships fail all the time. To someone else it might mean the very erosion of their personhood to the extent they forgo all ability to function at the most basic level.