Can anxiety give you a form of PTSD?

[_bethy94]

Hi all,

Sounds like a bizarre question, but can anxiety give you post traumatic stress or any type of trauma after you've experienced it?

Recently I've been suffering anxiety and intrusive thoughts and it's been scary upon reflection, especially since I've never felt it like this. I feel scared, especially at the thought of going through it again. I know these forums aren't here to replace the advice of medical professionals so I'm happy with educated opinions. Could that be a form of PTSD as a result of recent anxiety and feeling scarred from it as a result?

[geoff]

Hello Bethy, a good question and as you've said we aren't qualified to say but from our own experience we can comment.

People with PTSD can continue to be depressed and/or anxious for some time following an event and if you do have any intrusive thoughts then when you are experiencing them they can form PTSD as a result of your recent anxiety and being damaged from it.

You may even avoid a place, or by seeing anybody or by doing something after a traumatic event, so this anxiety can form PTSD.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[Alexlisa]

Hello Bethy.

This is interesting and I’ve wondered a similar thing before. I’m not sure that it could officially qualify as PTSD, but having had any health issue that has felt traumatic can have a lasting psychological effect as you fear it returning. Consider if you had a terrible case of food poisoning. You might become fearful that you could catch it again, so may start avoiding certain foods or situations in an effort to control the anxiety that comes up. You might become hyper vigilant and panic every time you feel a slight tummy twinge that it’s happening again.

Regarding anxiety, the example that springs to my mind is the after effects of having a panic attack. The first time it happens it may be so out of the blue that you feel like you’re dying or going crazy. It’s common once someone’s had a panic attack that they will start to fear having another one. You might start avoiding similar situations, and if you can’t, often the intense fear of having another panic attack is what triggers it to happen again. It can become a cycle.

Like I said, I don’t know and can’t say if it could be considered PTSD, but that doesn’t mean that it diminishes the fear that you’re experiencing about becoming unwell again. I know that I have this fear. And I go to a mental health day program at a hospital each week and that fear is something that quite often comes up in our discussions. I think it’s human to fear that something bad will happen again, and I think we could be more prone to these worries if we have/have had anxiety.

I was wondering if you’re getting any professional help? It can be useful to talk about these kind of worries and to get an outside perspective. A psychologist will be able to help you to understand what’s going on for you, and teach you skills that will help you to manage your symptoms. I know that I fear becoming very unwell again and my psychologist has helped me to see that it does pass and also that we will be able to deal with it if/when it happens again. Relapses are quite common in mental health recovery - it’s not usually a straight line to wellness. So we need to develop the skills that will let us accept that setbacks may be the reality. But it doesn’t mean we’re not recovering overall.

Take care,

Alexlisa

[_bethy94]

Hi Geoff,

Makes a great deal of sense, thank you. A little like a cycle!

[_bethy94]

Hi Alexlisa,

Thank you for your input. Like Geoff you also make a lot of sense.

As humans I guess it's instinctive for us to avoid any unpleasant feelings, especially if we've felt scared by them in the past. I had a slight panic attack the other night (the first I've ever had) and it was frightening, so I started to fear it coming back which in turn causes anxiety and as you said, we have a cycle. Fortunately since then I haven't had any moments of panic.

I ended up going to the GP on Thursday to get a mental health plan (my current anxiety is situational in response to the Twitter story I'd told you about last week) so I explained all of that to my doctor and she was beyond understanding and great about it which gave me a lot of confidence speaking up again. That night I ended up telling my family about my traumatic ordeal last year (and the Twitter thing again) and they too were amazing about it and reassured me I'm not a "freak", it was just a highly emotional time for me and a fight or flight response, as I have been heavily hard on myself about it. So since telling my family I have felt a huge emotional load off me. My mum put me onto a counsellor she knows (therefore reputable) and we're going to get started this week. My private health cover also gives me up to $1000 worth of consults which is great.

Hope your recovery is going well. Feel free to keep me updated if you feel comfortable doing so.

Best wishes

[CourtneyJ]

I don't know if this is what you mean but I feel like I have slight PSTD remembering previous panic attacks I've had.

It's like I can transport myself back to that moment and physically feel EVERYTHING again. The panic, the shakes, the hysterical crying, the lack of sleep etc. All of it.

It feels awful.