C-PTSD and Bullying P.II

Common symptoms of PTSD and Complex PTSD that sufferers report experiencing

Associated symptoms of Complex PTSD

Survivor guilt: survivors of disasters often experience abnormally high levels of guilt for having survived, especially when others - including family, friends or fellow passengers - have died. Survivor guilt manifests itself in a feeling of “I should have died too”. In bullying, levels of guilt are also abnormally raised. 

The survivor of workplace bullying may have develop an intense albeit unrealistic desire to work with their employer (or, by now, their former employer) to eliminate bullying from their workplace. 

Many survivors of bullying cannot gain further employment and are thus forced into self-employment; excessive guilt may then preclude the individual from negotiating fair rates of remuneration, or asking for money for services rendered. The person may also find themselves being abnormally and inappropriately generous and giving in business and other situations.

Shame, embarrassment, guilt, and fear are encouraged by the bully, for this is how all abusers - including child sex abusers - control and silence their victims.

Marital disharmony: the target of bullying becomes obsessed with understanding and resolving what is happening and the experience takes over their life; partners become confused, irritated, bewildered, frightened and angry; separation and divorce are common outcomes.

Breakdown

The word “breakdown” is often used to describe the mental collapse of someone who has been under intolerable strain. There is usually an (inappropriate) inference of “mental illness”. All these are lay terms and mean different things to different people. I define two types of breakdown:

The two types of breakdown are distinct and should not be confused. 

A stress breakdown is a natural and normal conclusion to a period of prolonged negative stress; the body is saying “I’m not designed to operate under these conditions of prolonged negative stress so I am going to do something dramatic to ensure that you reduce or eliminate the stress otherwise your body may suffer irreparable damage; you must take action now”.

A stress breakdown is often predictable days - sometimes weeks - in advance as the person’s fear, fragility, obsessiveness, hypervigilance and hypersensitivity combine to evolve into paranoia (as evidenced by increasingly bizarre talk of conspiracy or MI6). If this happens, a stress breakdown is only days or even hours away and the person needs urgent medical help. The risk of suicide at this point is heightened.

Often the cause of negative stress in an organisation can be traced to the behaviour of one individual. The profile of this individual is on the serial bully page. I believe bullying is the main - but least recognised - cause of negative stress in the workplace today. To see the effects of prolonged negative stress on the body click here.

The person who suffers a stress breakdown is often treated as if they have had a mental breakdown; they are sent to a psychiatrist, prescribed drugs used to treat mental illness, and may be encouraged - sometimes coerced or sectioned - into becoming a patient in a psychiatric hospital. 

The sudden transition from professional working environment to a ward containing schizophrenics, drug addicts and other people with genuine long-term mental health problems adds to rather than alleviates the trauma. Words like “psychiatrist”, “psychiatric unit” etc are often translated by work colleagues, friends, and sometimes family into “nutcase”, “shrink”, “funny farm”, “loony” and other inappropriate epithets. 

The bully encourages this, often ensuring that the employee’s personnel record contains a reference to the person’s “mental health problems”. Sometimes, the bully produces their own amateur diagnosis of mental illness - but this is more likely to be a projection of the bully’s own state of mind and should be regarded as such.

The person who is being bullied often thinks they are going mad, and may be encouraged in this belief by those who do not have that person’s best interests at heart. They are not going mad; PTSD is an injury, not an illness.

Sometimes, the term “psychosis” is applied to mental illness, and the term “neurosis” to psychiatric injury. The main difference is that a psychotic person is unaware they have a mental problem, whereas the neurotic person is aware - often acutely. 

The serial bully’s lack of insight into their behaviour and its effect on others has the hallmarks of a psychosis, although this obliviousness would appear to be a choice rather than a condition. With targets of bullying, I prefer to avoid the words “neurosis” and “neurotic”, which for non-medical people have derogatory connotations. Hypersensitivity and hypervigilance are likely to cause the person suffering PTSD to react unfavourably to the use of these words, possibly perceiving that they, the target, are being blamed for their circumstances.

A frequent diagnosis of stress breakdown is “brief reactive psychosis”, especially if paranoia and suicidal thoughts predominate. However, a key difference between mental breakdown and stress breakdown is that a person undergoing a stress breakdown will be intermittently lucid, often alternating seamlessly between paranoia and seeking information about their paranoia and other symptoms. The person is also likely to be talking about resolving their work situation (which is the cause of their problems), planning legal action against the bully and the employer, wanting to talk to their union rep and solicitor, etc.

Transformation

A stress breakdown is a transformational experience which, with the right support, can ultimately enrich the experiencer’s life. However, completing the transformation can be a long and sometimes painful process. The Western response - to hospitalise and medicalize the experience, thus hindering the process - may be well-intentioned, but may lessen the value and effectiveness of the transformation. 

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Reblog if you're a fellow drug enthusiast

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We call it “home” because for those few hours in the night, we can gather together under the lights, united by the music and just forget about the constraints of society and be free to express who we really are. It’s not for everyone, but for those who can find a passion for it will have their lives changed.

Raves are where you should feel accepted for being you

Raving for me and for a lot of people is a place where we can escape the constraints of society for a night and be free to express ourselves however we may please. Whether it be the music, drugs, dancing, socializing, flow art, etc we all have different reasons for why we choose this life that we do. It’s not for everyone but for those who can connect with the culture and gain a passion for it have always had an eye opening experience. We are such a diverse group of people coming from different backgrounds and at different stages in our lives but we are all united by the love for the music.

Raving should be be about accepting those who want to share this same passion, but I feel like lately there’s been so much negativity and hate towards each other for having different opinions. Who cares what genre of music someone listens to, what they choose to wear to an event, how old they are or their experience within this scene. I don’t discriminate against anyone because it shouldn’t matter granted if they are in it for the right reasons. With EDM and raving becoming so popular there will obviously be a large influx of uneducated and inexperienced people to this scene. Instead of hating them for “ruining” things, maybe realize that you were once new too and think about all the people who helped and educated you along the way. Be that person and help the new ones instead of hating them for wearing flower crowns, only liking mainstream artists or asking for a bracelet because that’s probably all they know for now.

So before you go spreading negative vibes, think before you say something. Educate the newcomers, give hugs to those around you and help those who may seem lost. Build the scene you want to see.