No one should be alone in this. We can help. View New Content

[quietCherub]

In a recent talk with my therapist (whom I've been seeing for about 6 months and has gotten to know me well, especially my past and my present symptoms) he told me that if he were to diagnose me, he would diagnose me with P "little T" SD. He explained this to mean that I am not suffering from PTSD coming from one large trauma, but from many "little" traumas instead. I found this interesting. I do think that it makes sense... my "technical" diagnosis is Major Depressive D/O, more specifically Dysthymia - this is the dx on paper.

Has anyone else ever heard of this or been told something similar? How do you feel about it?

Also, he mentioned that weeks ago ... but a current incident is making me think of it more.

In the past, I was in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship. I got out, but at the beginning of this month, new neighbors moved in below me. They shout and fight a lot, and the male seems especially angry. I've noticed that when I hear him yelling, I get mild flashbacks from my past relationship ... I get anxious, tense, scared, somewhat immobilized. Thankfully it is not all the time, but it is effecting me.

Anyone else have experience with "little" traumas having an effect like this, or with being diagnosed with PTSD for many traumas as opposed to one large one?

[LaurynJcat]

Hi quietCherub,

Good for you, getting out of your abusive relationship.

Your diagnosis makes sense to me. I'm the same. I had an abusive mother and years of therapy. But I still HATE the sound of a couple fighting or a parent screaming at a child. It reminds me of my parents when I was little (before they divorced) and also of my mother's rages at my brother and I. The screams, the bangs and sounds of things being thrown. The smack of flesh on flesh. Makes my skin crawl. I've also had a few bad fights in relationships, though not many, and it felt so awful.

Hugs to you,
Lauryn

[michael please]

Any chance you could call Police for a domestic violence situation if you start to hear physical violence? I would consider first if they would automatically know it was you. Otherwise, do you have any possibility of moving to another apartment away from this scene? It seems that this situation will just continue to trigger your PtSD and not being able to do anything about it would seem stressful.

[quietCherub]

This is delayed, but thanks for your responses. Lauryn. it is good to know that others experience things like this. My parents also screamed at each other a lot before and even after they split when my dad would come to pick up/drop off my brother. My dad was possibly abusive to my mom physically, not to an extreme where I noticed marks, but it sure sounded like it sometimes when they were behind closed doors.

I do not have the option of moving, plus I absolutely adore the apartment. The neighbors don't yell all the time, but still do yell. There is a girl that comes by with a kid that I think is theirs and I think that is who he is yelling at. He yells at her about doing drugs.

If I thought there was any chance of physical abuse, ESPECIALLY to the child, I would certainly call 911. But I have not heard anything that sounds like anyone getting physical, I have not heard the child cry or anything like that . I certainly would take steps if I thought that was happening.

I also realize that sometimes he sounds like he is yelling even when he is just talking, because he speaks so loudly.

Anyways, I will just take it time by time. If they get too loud I may say something to them (while keeping myself safe) and if it sounds like anything that is getting physical or threatening the safety of the kid I will cal 911. I had to go talk to the neighbors that lived there before one time, because they would fight a lot (again, no evidence of anything physical) but they got EXTRA loud one night and my bf and I were concerned about them. They quieted down, and we didnt hear much of them after that.