Oh ((Lady Courtesan)), I don't know about me being an "expert" really, I just have worked very hard at trying to "understand" the challenge and I have been lucky that I have a therapist that has had a lot of experience working with PTSD patients. My therapist is also no stranger to struggling as he has battled depression so he knows what it is like to genuinely "struggle" where another therapist may not be able to relate.

I know you are very "angry" right now because you were "misdiagnosed" and didn't really get the "help" you needed and deserved, I know that all too well myself. It is hard enough to struggle with PTSD, never mind being "violated" by the very people you reach out to for "help". I have been through a lot, a lot that could have been avoided had I gotten the right treatment from the beginning too. I get very triggered when ANYONE tries to tell me I don't have "PTSD" too because I do have it and I have it "bad" too. I know all the crippling symtoms very well and I know the anger very well too.

As much as you feel betrayed right now, what is more important is to now focus on understanding your "true" diagnosis and finally working towards getting the "right" therapy to help you "heal" and get so you get it under control better too. You can either fight those who try to help you, or, you can decide to help them learn how to help you better and in that you will help others who would do better with a treatment provider that
has gained knowledge from their patients to where they develop better treatments for their patients, it really makes a huge difference when working with a therapist who does understand the challenge more and is actually "experienced".

I did give you a link to read in one of your threads, that link really helped me "understand" it a lot more once I found it and read it. I also gave a copy of it to my T as therapists don't always keep up with the new information that comes out because often they develop a therapy style they get used to using with their patients and don't have the extra time to keep up to date tbh.

I cannot say enough that you will need to have a therapist where you feel "safe" too. You need to be able to "pull back" if you feel things are pushing you too fast, it is too hard to move forward when the frontal lobe gets overwhelmed. Yes, it is somewhat like Bipolar on steriods, but you can "learn" to slow that down better where as Bipolar is different where it is more like an adrenaline rush and the person is on a kind of high and will do things irresponsibly. Someone who struggles with PTSD doesn't do things irresponsibly, they are in fact on "high alert and can be in flight/fight mode" and that is no pleasurable "high" to look forward to. Bipolar is pretty much AD resistant, where as with PTSD AD resistance can also take place but for a very different reason that has to do with "hyper awareness" from an actual "trauma" or what can be "several traumas". PTSD cycles may look like and sound like Bipolar cycles, but there is definitely a difference. Bipolar isn't about "tells" whereas PTSD is full of "tells" depending on the individuals history. When I say "tells" what that means is that a person with PTSD has a way or reading "threats" or tells in others that the average person tends to miss, PTSD individuals are "extremely" sensitive and often feel they are on a "higher level or almost possessing psychic abilities".
If you read the information I provided to you in another thread and I will post it here again for you, there is a big difference between "paranoia and hypervigilance". There is also a difference between MI and Psychiatric Injury too that has developed into the specific brain challenge called PTSD.

Complex post traumatic stress disorder (complex ptsd, pdsd, shell shock, nervous shock, combat fatigue), symptoms and the difference between mental illness and psychiatric injury explained

With PTSD there is a genuine desire to "overcome" and with the right help someone who struggles can learn to understand it better and develop skills that help them gain more control over the annoying symptoms and cycles that PTSD presents. The sensitivity that presents with PTSD leaves the patient feeling alone and separate from others, even at times above others, however, with the right therapy and time it is possible to understand what this means better to where the patient can slowly learns to connect with others "more" in spite of their higher levels of sensitivity.

I can see that right now for you Lady Courtesan, this is all new and the more you identify with it on a very deep personal way, the more you may get angry that no one had helped you with this before. Keep in mind that a lot of this knowledge has been fairly recent and unfortunately, yes, there are those professionals that are "ill" informed on how to spot and identify PTSD verses seeing symptoms that look like other disorders or mental illnesses. That is also discussed in that information I have presented. Try to be thankful that at least you have access to being understood better or that you can learn to understand it better too. It is not going to help you if you feed into the anger that you were not properly diagnosed earlier and I know that is a hard one, me too.

(((Hugs)))
OE