Diagnosis
Hello! I’m new here I have never been to a therapist, but I’m going to one very soon. In an attempt to prepare for asking them about PTSD, I did a checklist of the DSM5 diagnostic critera and met it. However, their list of stressors does not meet mine as mine was emotional abuse and I am wondering if this could mean CPTSD or if CPTSD is just a subset of PTSD in the DSM5. How do I talk to my therapist about this?
@Katherinesmom I am not an expert, but I think the short answer to this is that therapy does not require a diagnosis. Therapy is designed to help you as an individual person.
It's true that DSM-5 doesn't include emotional abuse in Criterion A for a diagnosis of PTSD, and DSM-5 doesn't include CPTSD at all. This means DSM-5 is not a very useful guide in many cases. It suggests a diagnosis of adjustment disorder might be used when criterion A does not apply, so if you really need a diagnosis for some reason—for insurance purposes, maybe—adjustment disorder might be a reasonable one to use.
You could ask your therapist right at the start whether they treat each person as an individual, or whether they treat each person according to a diagnosis.
Charlie
