I feel a bit hesitant posting here, because I am fairly certain from
what I have read of the symptoms (I have not seen a psychiatrist about
this) that I do not meet the criteria for PTSD, but I do get flashbacks,
which seems to be quite a bit worse t...
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I feel a bit hesitant posting here, because I am fairly certain from
what I have read of the symptoms (I have not seen a psychiatrist about
this) that I do not meet the criteria for PTSD, but I do get flashbacks,
which seems to be quite a bit worse than "regular" anxiety, and I
wondered if anybody on this forum felt/wondered the same. I have some
years of experience with social and other anxiety, and, again, I do not
want to imply that what I am going through or have gone through is
equivalent to some of the stories I read on this forum, but I keep
feeling like the coping strategies that I have developed are probably
inadequate. I have already described this elsewhere on these forums so I
don't want to go into it too much (and also the hour is very late), but
I had a bad trip from cannabis about four years ago, and it only lasted
about two hours, but they included a sense/delusion that the intense and
constantly mounting dread was all I had ever felt and all I would ever
feel. I am not sure that really explains it, but I suppose "bad trip"
would probably give a general idea. I guess it's not really the point.
There was a seizure, screaming, some semi-wild behaviour that I saw
myself engaging in rather than choosing to, and mostly about four times
of coming back to normal and then coming back to eternal hell. I don't
know what to do about triggers. They're weird. Things like deja vu,
gibberishy-reminescent things, voices coming through speakers or phones,
becoming focused on the rhythm of conversation or movement instead of
the content... as I write this I feel it is not likely many will
identify. I also do not know if many will identify with the sense that
trying to avoid a flashback immediately and intensely worsens things. Or
with the fear that I still have even without flashbacks happening, that
I will become psychotic. I guess this stuff is good to say even if it is
barking up the wrong tree. I have actually never spoken or even read of
someone with a similar experience and am not quite sure where to look.