Do I have a strange case of PTSD?

I posted this in another section and someone suggested I might have ptsd, the situation is a little strange though, let me explain:

In 2005 I witnessed a terrible accident of my parents friend, the very next day I started having horrible nausea which has persisted every day in combination with horrible panic attacks and just a constant sick feeling.

Here's the part that puzzles me, I was not close to that person at all, the day of the accident I was totally calm, I even went to the gym afterwords and though I was a little bit shocked since I had never witnessed a near death accident, but i pretty much went about my day normally.

Is it possible that I still developed PTSD from it even though it wasn't exactly traumatic for me? It was the only time in my life i've seen someone nearly dying so it was shocking to see, but there was no trauma, no grieving etc. on my part as I barely knew the person.

Yes, you can develop PTSD from this.
You don't have to be the one to be in an accident, or abused etc to get PTSD, anything witnessed that is traumatic can cause this.

So yes it is possible.

You should probably seek out your doctor and see if this is something that needs to be treated.


It does sound that this may be what you have from what you are saying symptoms wise.

Hi Killingtime!
Yes,it deffinettly sounds like PTSD.
I also developed PTSD even though I was not hurt phisically.
I was in a terror attack in which the terrorist did not manage to explode himself and was killed before he could harm anybody. I did not see him being killed and did not see his body. But I was in shock. I managed to help others in shock; I went to a family party and two days later I started reacting to the trauma,cried, had panuck attacks. I managed to overcome and go back to work and only a year laterI started havung anxiety that became worse and worse.So yes! You can deffinetly have PTSD from just wittnessing something.
Psychiatrist medicine helps a lot. If you choose to start a medicine, keep in contact with your psych. every few weeks as dosage and medicines might need to change.
I didnt know it before and thats why medicines didnt help as much in the past.
Good lack and I hope you feel better soon!
Happyface

yup.

Most of my PTSD came from watching my mom die slowly from type 1 diabetes... the things she went through were sometimes very horrific and sudden.

She spent 5 months in the hospital because of a staff infection in her leg. I watched as the kept taking her into surgery and removing layer after layer of skin from her leg trying to save it and her life(over 17 surgeries)...in between surgeries they would leave the wound..which was from the top of her thigh to her knee, open and insert and remove gauze from it several times daily.

That was only one of the horrible things I watched her endure. As a result I constantly fear something similar happening to me or another loved one.

I lost my job as a CNA because I became unable to cope with the "hospital like" environment.

It's not strange at all. And I'm sorry that you had to see what happened to that person.

faepacific wrote:yup.

Most of my PTSD came from watching my mom die slowly from type 1 diabetes... the things she went through were sometimes very horrific and sudden.

She spent 5 months in the hospital because of a staff infection in her leg. I watched as the kept taking her into surgery and removing layer after layer of skin from her leg trying to save it and her life(over 17 surgeries)...in between surgeries they would leave the wound..which was from the top of her thigh to her knee, open and insert and remove gauze from it several times daily.

That was only one of the horrible things I watched her endure. As a result I constantly fear something similar happening to me or another loved one.

I lost my job as a CNA because I became unable to cope with the "hospital like" environment.

It's not strange at all. And I'm sorry that you had to see what happened to that person.

Try not to bump old posts like this because chances of them even seeing this after so many years is unlikely.