Can PTSD lead to ASPD or Sociopathy?

PDs are actually there since birth. I don't know why the f*ck they made illegal to diagnose it under 18.

Most people with PDs claim they were always like that. Bipolar, schizo, depression, anxiety are the ones more likely to happen between puberty and early adulthood. PDs are there since birth most likely in full force, but obviously with an increase in symptoms after puberty and a decrease after menopause/andropause (for cluster B ones).

I was born anxious. And prone to violent/angry outbursts. I only controlled my violence after 19 to be precisely, but it's always there.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I believe that you are right that ASPD would not be the correct diagnosis. However I doubt that I am depressed as seems to be the general consensus. I have seen many therapists and "well I certainly don't think your depressed" is often one of the first things to come out of their mouth. My life is very stimulating. When I say bored, I don't mean disinterested, I am very interested in everything almost all of the time. I mean a deeper sort of boredom, the constant longing to be outside doing things. Rather than being sad or depressed, I simply do not feel emotions. I remember what they feel like very clearly, but since the incident I have felt exited a handful of times, anger once, and fear once. Nothing else. I suppose I should elaborate on what I have been referring to as "the incident". When I was in late elementary school my younger brother who I was very close to developed a highly irregular type of brain tumor. He was in the hospital for several years and my mother, who is my only guardian, was with him. Various family friends would come fix dinner and spend the night sometimes but mostly I was on my own. I stopped sleeping and spent the nights walking around my house in circles. I ate very little and when I did eat it was usually chocolate or jello. I later started drinking a tall glass of 92 proof rum every night which would put me to sleep (keep in mind I was about 10 at this time) My brother survived and is now recovering, but the boy that I knew and love had died. I haven't had a real conversation with him since. In 7th grade I stopped drinking. I woke up every morning crying with a pounding headache and stopped going to school. I saw many different doctors and was eventually diagnosed with "Conversion Disorder", a type of depression that manifests itself as physical pain. The diagnosis was later revoked and I now know that I was most likely suffering from alcohol withdrawal. I do not want any sort of formal diagnosis, or I would be telling this to a therapist, but I am really curious as to what is up with me.
Thanks

Nomad Psych wrote:

Imperial Penguin wrote:I blow up homemade explosives.

Awesome. What sort of stuff do you use?

The fact that this is the first reply gives me great hope in humanity. I mostly use homemade black powder (charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter) but I have began to dabble in high explosives (Potassium chlorate and petroleum jelly). I aspire to synthesize RDX and use it on a coke bender.

Imperial Penguin wrote:However I doubt that I am depressed as seems to be the general consensus. I have seen many therapists and "well I certainly don't think your depressed" is often one of the first things to come out of their mouth. My life is very stimulating. When I say bored, I don't mean disinterested, I am very interested in everything almost all of the time. I mean a deeper sort of boredom, the constant longing to be outside doing things. Rather than being sad or depressed, I simply do not feel emotions.

Emotional blunting is a hallmark trait of PTSD. Depression can also manifest as more of an apathetic state instead of overt sadness. If you have PTSD plus minor depression that manifests as apathy, I can see why you would feel little to no emotion. Being under-stimulated would lead you to seek outside activities, which seems high functioning but in actuality is just a symptom of your underlying depression. It's paradoxical. I'm surprised that a therapist would not pick up on this, but not many clinicians specialize in PTSD.

I hope that you are at least speaking with someone about your experiences, one day you'll be able to accept your past, and begin living again in the present. Once the past is settled, I think in time you'll regain your feelings and emotions.

graveflower wrote:

Imperial Penguin wrote:However I doubt that I am depressed as seems to be the general consensus. I have seen many therapists and "well I certainly don't think your depressed" is often one of the first things to come out of their mouth. My life is very stimulating. When I say bored, I don't mean disinterested, I am very interested in everything almost all of the time. I mean a deeper sort of boredom, the constant longing to be outside doing things. Rather than being sad or depressed, I simply do not feel emotions.

Emotional blunting is a hallmark trait of PTSD. Depression can also manifest as more of an apathetic state instead of overt sadness. If you have PTSD plus minor depression that manifests as apathy, I can see why you would feel little to no emotion. Being under-stimulated would lead you to seek outside activities, which seems high functioning but in actuality is just a symptom of your underlying depression. It's paradoxical. I'm surprised that a therapist would not pick up on this, but not many clinicians specialize in PTSD.

I hope that you are at least speaking with someone about your experiences, one day you'll be able to accept your past, and begin living again in the present. Once the past is settled, I think in time you'll regain your feelings and emotions.

Thanks for your response, I found it very helpful. I don't really want my emotions back though. Without them, I feel like a much more rational and clear headed person.
The one thing that that doesn't explain is my behavior in romantic relationships. If someone expresses interest in my and I don't really share that interest, I will almost always play along. I ask personal questions and find out as much as I can to use against them. I use them to gain access to other social groups. I borrow money that I never intend to pay back, I sell them drugs that they would otherwise be buying from a full time dealer and other things of the sort. Once I have gotten everything that I can out of them I usually make rapid changes in the way that I treat them, ignoring them one moment, worshiping them the next etc. When our "relationship" is on a particularly high note and they have a sense of hope I will end the relationship abruptly. This tactic has turned at least one girl suicidal. Another one also became suicidal shortly after I cut them off, but she was having difficulty with drug and alcohol abuse, her relationship with another guy and with her mother as well so I doubt I can claim responsibility for her. Anyways, I don't think that this behavior is commonly attributed to PTSD or depression but I could be wrong. Is there another disorder that could explain why I find it so fun to exercise control over other people this way and why I don't feel guilty about it? Or maybe I'm just a bad person.

From what I've seen, no. However brain trauma can trigger sociopathy, and you can suffer from PTSD from the accident that caused the brain trauma. The only time I've seen someone with PTSD become violent, is if they're caught off guard or startled and in that moment, they react with force.

guys, i found something interesting about ptsd and sociopathy while quickly looking up something else for another thread on a different forum...

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I have found that a significant percentage of those thought to be primarily sociopathic often have an extensive history of trauma and a subsequent onset of post-traumatic stress disorder. The trauma is especially common in African-American males, who are heavily overrepresented in prison systems. One has to be careful here because it is so hard to be sure that reported trauma actually took place due to the possibility of fabrication and limited access to information from family and friends.

http://www.behavioral.net/article/better-prison

???

A primary wouldn't experience the trauma that would lead to PTSD, right? What came first, the chicken or the egg?

if primary is primarily genetic then no i guess not..

I recently started watching Dexter (yeah, I know Im the last person on earth to finally see it.) and they're claiming his psychopathy was triggered from PTSD.

-- Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:33 pm --

Not sure how that's relevant. Just thinking out loud, I guess.