Going to have to disagree with you. There is a significant difference between going through something that really sucks, and being traumatized. Based on the information presented thus far, OP is going through the former.
>There is a significant difference between going through something that really sucks, and being traumatized. Based on the information presented thus far, OP is going through the former.
Yeah losing all your savings working on shit that didn't matter in the end while wasting years of your life isn't traumatizing at all. Glad you cleared that up for them.
At what point does it become traumatizing? After a person in that circumstance falls into one hellish layer of depression after another and decides to finally end it?
There is a specific set of objective diagnostic criteria for PTSD.
Nobody is saying that those experiences aren't traumatic or stressful. What we're saying is that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a specific thing with a specific definition, distinct from "the set of all people who have experienced trauma as the result of stress".
I should have said it sounds like it could suck very much to the point of being traumatic, but not the level of trauma experienced by those who suffer from PTSD.
My apologies for coming off harsh, your prior comment struck a chord. I'll try to explain:
If you take even a cursory glance at C-PTSD, you'll see a lot of it has to do with the stress of being trapped in extreme circumstance, with highly deleterious or even catastrophic mental health effects resulting from that prolonged stress.
You wouldn't tell a POW or concentration camp survivor that their trauma was less than that of a combat veteran or shooting victim, would you? Of course not.
Consider failed startups can sometimes lead to homelessness, which is both very trapping and extremely stressful. Sometimes deadly.
Point being: if the trauma ultimately enlists the same physiological and emotional mechanisms in ripping apart the human mind, then attempting to become an arbiter of trauma severity is really besides the point, if not poor taste.
Personally, I've experienced events that satisfy Criterion A of the DSM-V PTSD diagnostic criteria. Think dealing with an enraged, manic family member with a loaded rifle. Being on the receiving end of domestic violence. Threats of sexual violence against loved ones. That level of bad.
While the effects of those events easily satisfied the remainder of diagnostic criteria at the time and lasted quite a while, they pale in comparison to the chronic effects of choosing to pursue a startup and what that did to my mental health.
Are you qualified to evaluate this persons anecdote from a diagnostic perspective?
I’m curious, since you’re a pedant about diagnostic criteria, I’m surprised that a qualified individual would make such a determination from a brief HN post.
