Hello, Irene and welcome here. I have been diagnosed with bi polar disorder. Actually, I have been diagnosed with quite a few things before my actual therapist told me I have complex PTSD. It did make a difference for me because ever since then the focus has been on working on the trauma instead of ineffectively trying to treat depression/bipolar disorder. Trauma therapy is reducing depression as well as other symptoms.
I don't know any websites or books that could help you learn about it, but other people here probably will and your psychologist may also have things for you to read.

My psychologist stopped taking new patients years ago. But I called out of the blue a few days ago and he readily is taking me back. It's trauma therapy using the Terra tapper thing. I ignored this for so long. Pretended I was ok. But it's destroying my relationship with my fiancé. So I'm willing to grow. Be honest with myself.

Im on the ptsd board, u should come join us over there if u want too.

irene24601, welcome, I was diagnosed bipolar at first, too, since the symptoms can really overlap with PTSD. In time, though, my doctor figured it out. Though the symptoms can be the same often enough, the causes are totally different, since bipolar is genetic and PTSD comes from an event that happened to you from outside of you. It turned out that I had "Complex" PTSD from childhood, and that's why my doctor thought it was genetic at first, it went that far back and came from multiple traumas and not one big one as an adult, like a car wreck at age 25, suppose.

A great resource would be Pete Walker's free FAQs website about CPTSD. Folks gave it to me when I got here and it really helped.

http://pete-walker.com/fAQsComplexPTSD.html

Thank you for the replies. And Holy Hannah! That link was brilliant! I feel sooo validated and understand myself now!
And so it begins...

At the risk of sounding clueless, how to I get to the ptsd board?

Misdiagnosed with depression and anxiety. A decade of failed therapy and medicine. Even etc. I had to figure it out on my own. The medical profession utterly failed. So I started reading about cptsd, using yogic breathing, mindfulness and meditation. Not even sure I would bother with a psychiatrist or therapist again personally but I'm pissed over 10 wasted years in therapy.. Utterly useless.

There are several people on this board that have complex trauma.....

This is the PTSD board Irene..... People who suffered as children over time have complex PTSD....

This is a good board with many informed members..... Welcome..... Big hug.....xo

Hi Irene. Welcome.

not bipolar, no, i was misdiagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. it does have many symptoms in common with bipolar 1 symptoms though, most definitely.

Hello,

I was misdiagnosed w/Bipolar. It's hard for docs to DX right because the symptoms are so similar. My psychiatrist questioned it when none of the meds worked.

He thinks attention seeking behavior or hyperarousal from neglect & abandonment, OCD, and irritability in complex ptsd are confused with mania a lot. Its been a true gift for me to find the right treatment.

I too suggest looking at Peter Walker’s websites. I found his info helpful in understanding complex PTSD. He has suggestions for treatment, so my only suggestion is to take that with a grain of salt. For me every therapist has a little bit different approach and the key is finding one that works for you.

For books, I recommend "Trauma and Recovery" by Judith Herman. The first chapter is a historical review so if you're not into that it might be hard to get through. The rest is amazing.

Other books include "The Body Keeps Score" by Bessel van der Kolk. I found the long list of harms from PTSD to be depressing but others like the book. There is "Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming self-alienation" by Janina Fisher. And a book I was just given and haven't read yet, but am very excited about, is called "Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal" by Belleruth Naparstek. That last book says something that is contrary to what many trauma survivors have been told: that healing is possible and that we don't have to live with and manage PTSD for the rest of our lives.

hi, irene, i just want to say welcome : ) i keep forgetting to say hi xo

Hello.
I hope that you are able to work with your psychologist in addition to looking into some resources that may be helpful. When the Darkness Will not Lift is a good book. I have a few other resources and articles that I can refer you to if you like.:) Hope you are feeling better soon!

Glad you have joined us here. Takes a long time for the PDocs to recognize that an initial diagnosis might be wrong. When folks have had various therapists or treatment stays, with different diagnoses given, they now recognize that it is PTSD or more often cPTSD. Many of us are in several groups here, and fit in all due to the wide array of kissing cousins cPTSD has. Happy you now know what you are dealing with. DS is here so we can give and get support, as well as share tools that have helped us. Just start reading posts and replies. Healing hugs.