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Originally Posted by doglover1979
Medication can make a huge difference in quality of life. I take medications for bipolar disorder, but the effect of reducing my overall anxiety has definitely helped my PTSD.
While there is no medication for PTSD, some symptoms can be addressed with meds. For example, if part of your PTSD is depression and anxiety, antidepressants might be a help.
There is also a good amount of evidence that if you have PTSD there is a greater likelihood of also having other disorders that complicate PTSD. If you have PTSD and something else (like a mood disorder), it is really important to treat the symptoms of the comorbid disorder.
I know, for me, if my Bipolar illness wasn't treated that I wouldn't have ever been able to address my trauma.
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doglover, while you may believe that there is a greater likelihood that if PTSD is present there are also other disorders there too. What is also happening is that professionals are seeing the symptoms of PTSD, and misdiagnosing what are all the symptoms of PTSD as other disorders. This is something I have discussed extensively with my therapist too. While a person can have a learning disability like ADHD or Dyslexia for example that has led them to be misunderstood and abused that can lead to experiencing PTSD, a person struggling with PTSD alone can express symptoms that can appear to mimic symptoms of other disorders when it is "not" another disorder like Bipolar, or avoidant personality disorder, or major depressive disorder, or a mood disorder, or acute anxiety disorder, but simply all just PTSD. There are cycles to PTSD that may sound like "bipolar" for example, but it is simply not the same. It is very common for someone diagnosed with PTSD to also be diagnosed with Bipolar II for example when that is really not accurate and the person is "only" suffering from PTSD.
It is important to keep that in mind and make sure you get another opinion and preferably from a professional that specializes in PTSD. What we do know is not an "exact" science and we have been learning more and more about the brain and PTSD as well. What I have said about PTSD symptoms being mistaken for other disorders is something that has been "slowly" recognized and professionals are "slowly" learning how to avoid misdiagnosing. It is actually not unusual to run into an older psychiatrist that knows about PTSD, yet doesn't really understand to recognize the symptoms clearly so that they do not make the mistake of misdiagnosing.
OE