I am going to start going to a group for abuse survivors but before I do that everybody who goes to a group at that agency has to go to an eight week group on PTSD and healthy coping strategies. I know for sure that I could use the healthy coping strategies but I'm wondering if maybe I should just allow myself to tune out (I'm pretty good at daydreaming) the PTSD stuff and just get through the eight weeks until I can get into the group I know for sure I need. I am wondering though because I have some of the other symtoms the leader was talking about yesterday.

My mom literally tried to kill me when I was nine (as in saying "I'm going to snuff the life right out of you and proceeding to wrap her hands around my throat.) When I tell somebody like a mentor who asks if there was any abuse in my history or talking to a psychologist for disability, etc I can picture the even like it happened yesterday even though it was 25 years ago but there is no emotion and in fact like one person pointed out I was telling them something horrible and smiling. I don't have nightmares and other than when I'm telling somebody I don't have a picture of the event either.

Can you have PTSD without the flashbacks and nightmares or are the symptoms of irratibility, depression, eating disorders, and addiction disorders common with any type of trauma and PTSD includes those aspects of reaction to trauma but is made worse by flashbacks and nightmares?