Oh, yes, PTSD loves to have company in it diagnose. I have PTSD, major depression, Anxiety, a personality disorder, and likely a few others that will diagnosed as my therapy goes on. In the big picture PTSD is a label for a group of mental illnesses that make up PTSD, such as anxiety an depression, a label within a label. aWelcome to the club and try not to get to hung up on the labels.

When I first realized something was wrong with me, I was nave. I did not know anything about PTSD, never even heard of it. With the symptoms I had I was sure I was crazy and if I told anyone I would be locked and the key destroyed. I was sure I was going insane and I was terrified. Sometime even now I feel like I am close to the edge and one small thing could push me over.

Do you have a therapist? Are you on meds? Meds can help take the edge off so you can start working towards getting better. They are not a cure all, they help about 30%,, 70% is still up to you. A good therapist can help you learn skills (the toolbox) that can help you manage your symptoms. A good therapist will treat the symptoms, not the labels.

I received different diagnoses over the years, but for me they all came back around to PTSD in the end. The others, like depression, seemed to be symptoms of PTSD and my struggle with life after major trauma.

For me those other diagnoses are useful for doctor referrals, prescriptions meds, and insurance to pay for them But I am not my medical labels or diagnoses, I am my life experience. And that involves having experienced trauma and needing to cope with it by making it meaningful somehow.

That's what I learned in therapy. Resiliency doesn't just come from being tough in the short term. In the long term it comes from finding a way to live with how trauma changed my life by rewriting my life story to make it mean something to me.

So that's why I come here and swap stories with friends at DS PTSD.

Buspar for anxiety? Might help, might not. Not very strong.

DBT is good, Amazon has some good workbooks on that. Bibliotherapy in general can give you more tools in the toolbox.

As for stuff you've blanked out? Could be, but generally, that arrives when you are at least semi-ready to handle it.

My agoraphobia is bad again, I have to keep it whacked back by...making myself go out in public, and I have been remiss. Gradual desensitization is the only treatment that works for me.
I do understand visualization exercises can also help?

The part I believe is just plain crazy is taking any psychiatric diagnosis too seriously. There is no physical proof of any of these diagnosis and I don't have enough Faith to sign up for the Church of Psychology, though I have already tithed my share.

But something is obviously not right between my ears and I need names to call it and terminology to describe it during discussions which contribute to my recovery. One name is as good as another.

Instead of losing ground over the label debate, I focus on the symptoms and I let it be okay that my symptoms are not identical to all the other nuts in the tree.

But that is me.

Gentle support while you sort your own, eshaw.

I have many diagnosis and it took me a long time to figure out I need to treat the symptoms, not the dx. Many people can have the same dx but treated very differently.

I didn't know I had PTSD until a few years ago and 'for me' it was the same coping skills for each dx, just a lot of therapy and the correct medications (that took a while to get it as close to right as possible).

It sounds as though you have seen a doctor(s), but are you actively in therapy? Have they suggested coping skills or medications? I believe you should post wherever you are most comfortable, there are many in this group with multiple diagnosis. I only post here.

There is often comorbidity in mental illness... in other words we have illnesses that overlap one another

I would try not to use words like crazy eshaw... They are hard on you.. Make you feel worse .... None of us are crazy
We have illnesses that need treatment

I know that labels has become the new 'buzz' word however I still prefer diagnosis as it gives me a place to go and educate myself when I know what a diagnosis is

This is a really good and supportive group eshaw... Many of us on DS belong to several groups and that includes me

Big hug for you....x

Comorbidity

http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/comorbidity-addiction-other-mental-disorders

I wld agree with Doo that you shld be managing your symptoms and not worry about a 'label' or several labels. I agree with SunCloud that calling yourself crazy isn't helpful. Hope you find a way to work it all out and start to recover. (((hugs))) Manda xx

I would not feel offended or pay ate to much to "labels". In fact they can help you separate the symptoms and realize you are suffering the symptoms of the dx given. So no you are not crazy.
Unless you have paranoid schizophrenia and in the severe range of the spectrum.

Diagnosis also overlap. They also range from mild to red zone.....
I feel hopeless too and YES you are right. A lot of these dx are due to trauma. A doctor told me he thought so too.
Trauma disrupts the normalcy of the secretion of hormones, brain chemistry, the accurate feeling of time. We people with PTSD do not have an accurate sense of time....we live in various times all at once.It makes us feel "crazy"...... emotional flashbacks are very common....read Peter Walker CPTSD...you can google it.

I went through a lot of doctors and anti-productive medicines before I finally figured out I had PTSD. Then it really clicked. Wrong diagnoses can be a hard thing.

I feel like I am just plain crazy too and don't know where to begin. I hate being labeled. I would suggest maybe trying to treat the symptoms rather than focusing on the labels.