i don't know if you looked at the replies to the OP but they acknowledge that their example might not be the best, but they're coming from a place of being diagnosed with C-PTSD and unfortunately without that context the post does seem less than ideally worded (which they also acknowledge). however, even without that diagnosis i don't think the post is wrong. there are levels of trauma, just as there are levels of any sort of injury. events can be damaging to a person, whether they occur singularly or layered over time, and that's trauma. having a 3rd degree burn doesn't make someone's 2nd degree burn any less of an injury.
i frankly don't care what the DSM says because (a) it's a diagnostic tool and not a definitive all-powerful grail, (b) there is much disagreement amongst the psychiatric community about the validity of its various contents, (c) they wanted to include introversion as a disorder for the most recent edition, and (d) it's not that long ago that homosexuality was in there.
some people still believe the old adage that "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me;" some people still believe that there's no such thing as emotional abuse, that people just need to "toughen up," that no one can hurt you unless you let them. it took a lot of work and a hell of a paradigm shift to get to a place where it's now generally acknowledged that those things are traumatic and often a lot more damaging in the long term than experiencing physical violence.
i vehemently disagree that the concept of trauma has to be limited to a certain scope. that never works for anything. widening the circle to include other types of damage has no impact on the people already in the circle. it's just a bigger circle with more people in it. and if those people need to be there, if it helps them, then we'll make room for them. telling someone they haven't been hurt in the right way because it doesn't fit some arbitrary definition that's most likely going to be changed in the next revision of a psych text is wrong.
humans make language. we decide what words mean and those meanings evolve because we say so. the word "depression" encompasses an enormous variety of degrees of illness, symptoms, longevity, etc. but i've never seen anyone here in camp MDD say "oh well people with dysthimia have no right to say they have depression." that's utter bullshit.
okay, i'm sorry, i'm getting really angry because i made the mistake of reading winterbird's reply and i have to stop.
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i frankly don't care what the DSM says because (a) it's a diagnostic tool and not a definitive all-powerful grail, (b) there is much disagreement amongst the psychiatric community about the validity of its various contents, (c) they wanted to include introversion as a disorder for the most recent edition, and (d) it's not that long ago that homosexuality was in there.
some people still believe the old adage that "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me;" some people still believe that there's no such thing as emotional abuse, that people just need to "toughen up," that no one can hurt you unless you let them. it took a lot of work and a hell of a paradigm shift to get to a place where it's now generally acknowledged that those things are traumatic and often a lot more damaging in the long term than experiencing physical violence.
i vehemently disagree that the concept of trauma has to be limited to a certain scope. that never works for anything. widening the circle to include other types of damage has no impact on the people already in the circle. it's just a bigger circle with more people in it. and if those people need to be there, if it helps them, then we'll make room for them. telling someone they haven't been hurt in the right way because it doesn't fit some arbitrary definition that's most likely going to be changed in the next revision of a psych text is wrong.
humans make language. we decide what words mean and those meanings evolve because we say so. the word "depression" encompasses an enormous variety of degrees of illness, symptoms, longevity, etc. but i've never seen anyone here in camp MDD say "oh well people with dysthimia have no right to say they have depression." that's utter bullshit.
okay, i'm sorry, i'm getting really angry because i made the mistake of reading winterbird's reply and i have to stop.