Ask Dr. Schwartz
Psychotherapy and Mental Health questions

Hello Dr. Schwartz, I am a 21 year old female, and I have recently been tentatively diagnosed with PTSD by my therapist. I was surprised when he brought up PTSD, but I have all the symptoms, lasting as long as I can remember since childhood? terrifying nightmares, obsessive flashback thoughts that are vivid and consuming (not to the trauma itself but to real and imaginary events that have common themes and may symbolize it), social anxiety and a history of airplane phobia, history of disturbing childhood play, vigilance and over-alertness to attack, trouble falling and staying asleep, dysthimia, trouble concentrating and bad memory, feeling emotionally detached from loved ones, headaches and sharp stomach pains, etc. The problem is, I have thought and thought about what the trauma might be, and I just don't know. I have had sad and scary things happen to me, but none of them seem like they would be a traumatic trigger. I've had the above symptoms for as long as I can remember. Is it possible for childhood traumas to have been lost from memory but still have an affect? Or is this probably just a misdiagnosis?

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