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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 22 of 22. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Lamdage22 on December 21, 2017, at 10:44:29
I think that neglect can be just as bad as physical or sexual abuse. Is it possible to have PTSD from mostly neglect in childhood? I am triggered easily by situations that feel like i could be abandoned.
Posted by baseball55 on December 21, 2017, at 18:12:22
In reply to PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Lamdage22 on December 21, 2017, at 10:44:29
Neglect can cause serious problems - not sure if PTSD is the right term though. There are people who were physically abused as children who, nevertheless, had some sense of being loved and cared for emotionally. But people who were emotionally abused or just ignored and neglected often, as adults, have problems with emotional attachment and regulation. I suffered some physical abuse as a child and complete emotional neglect - and the neglect had a much greater impact psychologically than the abuse. I literally had no idea what I was feeling and repressed all emotions, partly using lots of drugs and alcohol until I was in my late 40s and started to see a therapist. He literally taught me to feel and express emotions - just as if he were a parent teaching a small child how to understand and express their feelings.
The amazing thing for me was that even though I had no idea what was going on with my own emotions, I was a very good mother and taught my daughter to express and talk about her feelings. She turned out to be securely attached, able to form strong and healthy relationships and always processes any conflicts with others.
She was so happy when I started in therapy. She told me she had never really understood me because I didn't understand myself.
Posted by Lamdage22 on December 22, 2017, at 4:44:24
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by baseball55 on December 21, 2017, at 18:12:22
Thats a touching story. Thanks for sharing. I guess i never felt welcomed. With good reason.
Posted by Lamdage22 on December 26, 2017, at 13:27:35
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Lamdage22 on December 22, 2017, at 4:44:24
A former psychologist says yes you can get PTSD from neglect. It depends who you ask?
Posted by baseball55 on December 27, 2017, at 17:27:24
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Lamdage22 on December 26, 2017, at 13:27:35
> A former psychologist says yes you can get PTSD from neglect. It depends who you ask?
Sure. My p-doc would say so also. But I feel the term PTSD has been so overused that it's becoming meaningless.
Posted by rjlockhart37 on December 30, 2017, at 23:15:53
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by baseball55 on December 27, 2017, at 17:27:24
yea it is becoming over-used, people joke today about having PTSD, some of my old friends would say they did, and be over dramatic and enjoy doing it, they would boast about having PSTD, or ... go to their doctors and throw a drama party and get drugged up and then make drama scene about it
i think neglect - i know the feeling, and being left out of many things, but that's social neglect, but if a parents neglects kid that's when yes there's issues with them later on, kinda like a orphan - you don't know where you belong
Posted by baseball55 on December 31, 2017, at 17:41:24
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by rjlockhart37 on December 30, 2017, at 23:15:53
I think the problem is that there is no DSM category for the aftereffects of childhood emotional neglect, while there is a diagnosis (chronic PTSD) for the after-effects of childhood physical abuse. So therapists just tend to use PTSD for both. My p-doc did. But I was always uncomfortable with this - PTSD symptoms are flashbacks, hyper vigilance, etc., and I don't think these are the symptoms of neglect. Generally people who suffered childhood emotional neglect develop serious attachment problems -- anxious or avoidant attachment, which make it hard to forge strong and secure relationships.
Posted by Lamdage22 on January 5, 2018, at 12:33:11
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by baseball55 on December 31, 2017, at 17:41:24
Well i often feel like i will be abandoned by people when i get triggered. It happens fairly easily.
Posted by baseball55 on January 5, 2018, at 18:24:57
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Lamdage22 on January 5, 2018, at 12:33:11
I think fear of abandonment is pretty common with people who experienced emotional neglect as children. In a sense, you were abandoned - not physically, but emotionally. So that fear is triggered, especially when you feel vulnerable to someone.
Posted by rjlockhart37 on January 6, 2018, at 23:07:56
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by baseball55 on January 5, 2018, at 18:24:57
i've never known a person with PTSD but i've heard people - just random people talking with class, or previous friends, they said that there grandfather, or father had it....they would have flashbacks, and wake up like in a mode ready to fight, keeping a weapon near them, ready to jump up and fight - from past wars.... you have big flashbacks, and i think dissociation...depersonalization/derealization
i've had some emotional abandonment, but it wasn't traumatizing, but it will creep up on me and ill just be sleeping and remember a short period experiencing that happened years ago, resorted to spirituality, i don't talk to doctors about it, both because of situational things, and feeling that they won't do anything
DSM-IV has good definitions of it, but also even it can be more than just recorded, just research it on the net and hear people's stories, make sure to sniff out fiction from fact, drama people who indulge about it when they hardly have any thing rerlated to it
Posted by Clearskies on January 10, 2018, at 21:07:20
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by rjlockhart37 on January 6, 2018, at 23:07:56
Chronic neglect in childhood is a trauma , so the PTSD diagnosis is accurate. I experienced it too, and am easily triggered :(
I believe it made me more susceptible to triggers and being traumatized.
Posted by Lamdage22 on January 11, 2018, at 6:34:27
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Clearskies on January 10, 2018, at 21:07:20
However i dont have flashbacks or anything like that.
Posted by SLS on January 23, 2018, at 9:04:56
In reply to PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Lamdage22 on December 21, 2017, at 10:44:29
> I think that neglect can be just as bad as physical or sexual abuse. Is it possible to have PTSD from mostly neglect in childhood?
Yes. Exactly.
In the past, it was sometimes described as Developmental PTSD. More recently, it is referred to as Complex Trauma Disorder.
- Scott
Posted by Lamdage22 on January 24, 2018, at 3:48:49
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by SLS on January 23, 2018, at 9:04:56
Now my mother is trying to make me feel bad about living in the house i grew up in. If my childhood was so bad she says i need to move somewhere else.
I have done alot of systemic therapy lately and this is how the system reacts.
right now i hate her
Posted by Lamdage22 on January 24, 2018, at 4:43:18
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Lamdage22 on January 24, 2018, at 3:48:49
My mother has PTSD or something that looks like PTSD since ever. She thinks she has been cured by one 6 week hospital stay. My father probably has avoidant personality disorder and he is at the very least pretty damn distymic. My oldest brother at one point thought that it is possible that the earth is flat. He is in a cult also. The second oldest brother allegedly (according to ex wife) played around with a gun infront of them and threatened them. The youngest older brother is very functional although i think he will have a big mid life crisis.
Posted by Lamdage22 on January 24, 2018, at 5:39:00
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Lamdage22 on January 24, 2018, at 3:48:49
My mother has PTSD or something that looks like PTSD since ever. She thinks she has been cured by one 6 week hospital stay. My father probably has avoidant personality disorder and he is at the very least pretty damn distymic. My oldest brother at one point thought that it is possible that the earth is flat. He is in a cult also. The second oldest brother allegedly (according to ex wife) played around with a gun infront of them and threatened them. The youngest older brother is very functional although i think he will have a big mid life crisis.
Posted by Lamdage22 on January 24, 2018, at 5:40:20
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Lamdage22 on January 24, 2018, at 5:39:00
and i am the crazy one.
Posted by baseball55 on January 24, 2018, at 17:38:40
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Lamdage22 on January 24, 2018, at 5:40:20
> and i am the crazy one.
Why? What is crazy about you?
BTW, I can understand your mother's reaction (though not sympathize). Parents get very defensive when children point out flaws in their parenting. So her reaction - you don't like it, get out, is sad but not surprising.
Posted by Lamdage22 on January 25, 2018, at 2:03:44
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by baseball55 on January 24, 2018, at 17:38:40
Well i am the only one that officially has diagnoses. I am the one that burdens everyone. At least they see it that way.
Posted by rjlockhart37 on April 30, 2018, at 13:19:14
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by Lamdage22 on January 25, 2018, at 2:03:44
could you talk maybe about that, with another therapist? sometimes 1 person has certain view, you could ask other therapists or psychologists about what you feel
know what it feels like to be a burden, so .... i just went into my own withdrawal mode, and i started thinking about things.....tried to look to spirituality for answers
Posted by rjlockhart37 on April 30, 2018, at 13:20:28
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by rjlockhart37 on April 30, 2018, at 13:19:14
could you go the group? i thought you had said you saw a group or group therapy, and ask to speak with another counselor
Posted by Lamdage22 on April 19, 2019, at 7:07:07
In reply to Re: PTSD from mostly neglect?, posted by rjlockhart37 on April 30, 2018, at 13:20:28
I didn't go to the group for a long time. I felt I didn't fit in because they spoke about not being able to go to the mailbox because of social phobia.
This is the end of the thread.
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