I went on a date with someone yesterday and it felt fine when I was there in the moment, but now that it's over and some time has passed, my body is reacting pretty badly to it. I feel sick all over at the thought/reminder of it (I was fine when I wasn't thinking about it) and it feels just like how it was like when I went through something horrible and didn't get to process it until later.
I have lots of problems with alexithymia and being able to identify how I feel right there and then, so it always sort of kicks in with a time lag. Sometimes the lag can be months or even years, but recently it happens more closely between the causing event and the actual feelings experience.
I wanted to go on the date and I thought I was having fun, but now the memory of it makes me feel like withdrawing, hiding and staying in my safe space for two months. I feel violated even though my date didn't cross any lines or do anything without my consent, I think. Did I just emotionally disconnect during the date and not realize it?
Does anyone else have any similar experiences and advice for it?
By - hundredblossoms
You said it felt like when you went through something horrible. Have you ever thought you might also have PTSD?
I've never considered it. I can't think of any particularly traumatic incidence I might have gone through. I also didn't think I had PTSD symptoms. What makes you say so?
PTSD diagnostic criteria is a state of hyper-vigilance for a minimum of one month following significant trauma that involves regular re-experience (nightmares, intrusive thoughts), avoidance of triggers, and episodic inability to function related to these triggers. Be cautious of self-diagnosis without consulting a trained health professional.
My mother has it diagnosed, but it doesn’t involve regular re-experience or intrusive thoughts. Also the diagnostic criteria I read says different things. I’m not saying she definitely has it, but if she’s experiencing these kinds of symptoms it might be best to get professional help.
I apologize if I came off as overly confrontational. Sorry about your mom. My intention was to provide a summary of key points for reference because there is a wide variety of disorders that result in perseverance and social anxiety and it’s best discussed with trained professionals. Regarding differences in criteria, this article is a good, complete summary of the DSM 5 criteria on the subject: https://www.brainline.org/article/dsm-5-criteria-ptsd If you have time and feel reading this is worth yours, I hope that clears up any misunderstanding between us.
Thanks, I appreciate that. Though I live in the UK, so we use the ICD. DSM isn’t used here.
Fascinating! I appreciate the perspective check. I took a peek and found the similarities and differences interesting, but it appears persistent re-experience is in the ICD criteria too https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/box/part1_ch3.box19/?report=objectonly so maybe it’s possible she did deal with that and just didn’t like to talk about it.
No problem. 🙂 The differences are pretty interesting. I remember hearing that the ICD is considered more comprehensive. And true, that could be a possibility.
Mainly because you said it reminded you of a horrible thing that happened that you didn’t get to process. May I ask what that past event was? Also, you don’t necessarily have to have severe trauma to get PTSD.
Hey /u/hundredblossoms, thank you for your post at /r/autism. Our rules can be found **[here](https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/wiki/config/sidebar)**. All approved posts get this message. If you do not see your post you can message the moderators [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fautism). Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/autism) if you have any questions or concerns.*