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View Full Version : PTSD and MPD: are they linked?



Marista Faere
05-16-2004, 09:19 PM
Dear sir,

First, let me apologise for not remembering your name. Secondly, please allow me to thank you in advance for this forum. Lastly, let me give you a description of me, my current status, and what seems to be plaguing me.

I am a childhood survivor of many forms of abuse from my deceased violent alcholic father. A good description of my very early childhood could be similar to excerpts from When Rabbit Howls. Along with never having any privacy or boundaries in my house, walking on eggshells constantly, and having a butcher knife held to my throat, to name a few, I have also had several traumatic (and I use traumatic justly in this instance, not from my feeling or interpretation of them through experience) near-death experiences. I have went to several psychologists and psychiatrists for the last 14 years before attempting a free drug trial with Emory University. It was at that time I was diagnosed properly with PTSD.

My two questions are these 1) do patients with extreme PTSD have the predisposition to MPD? And if so, do they lead "normal" lives via medication and psychotherapy?

Right now, I am having minor hallucinations, short periods of black-outs/disassociation, and am hearing people calling my name, when no one is around. If I didn't have a strong enough mind, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference; however, it does aggravate my stress level to where I become more forgetful, lose track of time, and end up taking more xanax. And that adversely affects my job performance.

2) Are people with PTSD able to become permanently disabled and receive benefits through the government?

I apologise if this is too much to answer to. Please help in any way you can. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Marista Faere (one of my alter egos)

Dr. Adams
05-16-2004, 09:35 PM
PTSD and MPD both arise from trauma. Thus, they can, and often are, inseparably related.

Marista Faere
05-16-2004, 09:48 PM
Dr. Adams,

Thank you for answering my question so quickly.

Now with that answered, can I ask you this: If I am showing signs of both, and having been diagnosed with PTSD, will my mind slip deeper into MPD? Or, is it something I have always had, and just now am able to recognize the symptoms?

Secondly, do people in my situation live among mainstream society and how? :confused:

Dr. Adams
05-19-2004, 10:26 PM
I am assuming that you are, and have been in, psychological care for some time. I wonder if you are telling me that your doctor has given you an unfavorable prognosis (and that the diagnosis comes from him...not your own research).

Your primary concern needs to be your PTSD. The symptoms of that anxiety disorder can mobilize defenses that create the "need" for MPD.

aswab
07-13-2004, 06:01 PM
I guess it's pretty fair to say that anyone with MPD (now called DID, btw) MUST be suffering from PTSD as a prerequisite. And the extreme version of dissociation which gives rise to MPD is only (ever, as far as I know) a desprerately an attempt to deal with and try to manage appalling trauma.

S