[Troy]

Does PTSD cause obsessions and fantasies?

What kind of does it cause or have you heard of?

Mine have changed over the years, mostly absurd, but kind of ever present.

[bebop]

Originally Posted by Troy

Does PTSD cause obsessions and fantasies?

What kind of does it cause or have you heard of?

Mine have changed over the years, mostly absurd, but kind of ever present.

I think it can. I will have to think on this one

[xander1100]

yes ptsd can cause obsessions and fantasies, they vary person to person though. obsession wise most are pretty harmless. you know, checking ur bed for camel spiders before you get in it, things like that. havent seen too many people who have had "fantasies" that lasted for more than a split second, most of the time its when you first wake up and your kinda groggy and you get a "****, still in f*in wherever" thought before you remember you're back home.

[Troy]

I don't know whether it was an obsession or a fantasy, but years ago, after returning from combat, I thought about shoplifting almost every time I was in a store -- usually stores that had warning signs up about shoplifting as I recall.

The obsession wasn't focused on any particular items. I did not need anything like that. I wasn't short of money to buy.

And whenever the thought crossed my mind, I'd also think how stupid was the idea to steal something. Every time, I wondered why these thoughts were coming to my mind.

In spite of all this obsession with shoplifting, I didn't steal anything or even move in that direction. I was more worried about why I was thinking about it.

Now that I've recognized PTSD and how it can make me act, I wonder whether the obsession with shoplifting (and maybe other things dangerous) are somehow connected to PTSD. Maybe my ptsd enjoys or needs a dangerous situation to compensate for the lack of adrenlin flow felt in combat.

Thankfully, the shoplifting obsession passed into history (and I hope this recollection and telling doesn't bring it back).

You can probably see how this kind of thing makes a ptsd'r feel like a creep, like a phoney. I feel like one person on the outside and another on the inside.

[xander1100]

u know how it is in combat zones, we pretty much do what we want. it was probably jsut a left over feeling of that

[bebop]

that is one reason so many soldiers have a really hard time coming home. they are so use to doing what they want and how they want and when they want and to come home and have to follow the rules again is not easy. I learned alot from being married to a nam vet.