Has anyone suffered PTSD from caregiving?

I’m not sure what diagnosis one would get for it, but I feel traumatized every time I visit my mother at her Memory Care.

The MC is lovely, but my mother’s negative outlook/depression/confusion/anxiety/bizarre questions/non-acceptance of logical answers, and on and on, feels like getting hit with an emotional 2x4. Every time I visit. It’s so very, very stressful.

Yes.   Several years ago after my sister died of metastatic breast cancer, I did a bit of research on how stress affected caregivers.    The results were very interesting, and somewhat unsettling, and unfortunately no longer available at the original sites.

Those who had provided caregiving had IL-6 levels significantly higher for individuals of the same age who hadn't cared for someone.

This addresses the new nomenclature:

"PTSD and DSM-5
In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association revised the PTSD diagnostic criteria in the fifth edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; 1). PTSD is included in a new category in DSM-5, Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders. All of the conditions included in this classification require exposure to a traumatic or stressful event as a diagnostic criterion."

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/essentials/dsm5_ptsd.asp

I have also read that it's referred to not as PTSD but PTSS (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome), which makes sense b/c it seems to function more as a syndrome than a disorder.  I would argue that this kind of experience, just like that in wartime, isn't a syndrome; it's more of a body's response to conditions for which we never really acclimated.   I yield, however, to those with medical and/or psychiatric experience.
  
One of the very interesting aspects of the earlier literature was the comparison of IL-6 in noncaregiving individuals to those who had cared for someone for  a significant length of time.  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC166443/

" Caregivers' average rate of increase in IL-6 was about four times as large as that of noncaregivers." and

"These data provide evidence of a key mechanism through which chronic stressors may accelerate risk of a host of age-related diseases by prematurely aging the immune response."  (kind of scary, isn't it?)

and

"A growing body of evidence has implicated caregiving as a risk factor for health. Compared with noncaregivers, men and women who provide care to a spouse with a stroke or dementia report more infectious illness episodes (1), they have poorer immune responses to influenza virus and pneumococcal pneumonia vaccines (2–4), their wounds heal more slowly (5), they are at greater risk for developing mild hypertension (6, 7), and they may be at greater risk for coronary heart disease (8). Moreover, a prospective longitudinal study found that the relative risk for all-cause mortality among strained caregivers was 63% higher than noncaregiving controls (9)."  (Numbers in parentheses refer to citations in the article.

This addresses only spousal caring for those with stroke or dementia; there are obviously a lot of other caregiving situations besides these two.

Not good; we caregivers have to take extra special care of ourselves.

PTSD can indeed be induced by a wide variety of situations. Do not pay attention to anyone telling you that "People don't become a psychiatrist by navigating the Internet or by reading the DSM-5." which is rude & uncalled for, not to mention an absolute diagnosis by someone on the internet who's unqualified to make such a diagnosis.

When I met my biological family in 2000, I was diagnosed with PTSD afterward. And I hadn't even met them in person yet, just over the phone! Paxil helped me tremendously, by the way.

PTSD can come about from a wide variety of situations, including an anxiety provoking caregiving situation that's gone on for a long period of time! I have a good friend who's suffering from this exact situation and medicated for it by her PCP.

There is also something called CPTSD or Chronic PTSD which you should Google and read about; it's associated with chronic, ongoing trauma vs a single event that leads to PTSD.

Definitely see your doctor to talk about this situation in further detail.

Best of luck!

The book I am currently reading, a good one about a woman, now in 40s, quite brilliant, who begins to be distressed and ends with ab out a dozen different diagnoses is a good one. Often doctors throw out a word, closely followed by a vial of pills, and when that doesn't work another word, maybe several more, until one can look like a walking DSM 5. And a walking pill popper. I really recommend "Pathological, the True Story of Six Misdiagnoses.
I think the important thing is to avoid labels, perhaps. PTSD is something we can recognize in ourselves after trauma. The tendency to be triggered. The label is unimportant.
Caregivers suffer many things, anxiety, worry, hopelessness, guilt, desperation. And there is an after effect to this as well. Arguing words and labels doesn't help....the person is looking for relief, even for understanding and companionship by those who understand what they are experiencing.
Whatever we call it, we who have given care to others understand it exists, acknowledge it, and attempt to do the work to get through it, even to learn from it. Lynn,I sure do wish you good luck. I think you'll be fine. Along with the trauma you have learned a lot. The coin has two sides.

How did the original post turn into a stage for trashing psychiatry? That’s not helping the original poster.

Psychiatrists are medical doctors (DOs and MDs) who spent years in medical schools, internships, and residencies to be eligible to take medical and board exams to practice. Lots of brain power and resilience are required to become a psychiatrist. It is ok to believe psychiatry is not helpful to you, but trashing the whole profession only shows your lack of understanding of the world around you and reveal your ignorance to the world.

To the original poster: any doctor that yells at you is unprofessional and should be reported. And then find a new one. I have changed my doctors for less egregious behaviors.

I have C-PTSD from years of almost daily emergencies. My son has mental health issues and both parents had cancer, plus mom has mental health issues. I never have a relaxing day. Sunday morning, right now, my son is harassing me because someone has his "things" and he's going to "kill everyone if he doesn't get his things." It never ends. I'm literally phone phobic now over it all. I'm working on it, but it's not easy. The book "Boundaries" has helped me to create my own safe zone. Even if they don't respect my boundaries, I'm much more able to say what they're going through is not my problem, call 911 if it's an emergency, etc...
You need to prioritize your own health and seek help for your husband's care wherever you can. If that means sending him to hospital by ambulance or patient transfer instead of being present yourself, then do it and don't feel guilty.
I wish you well.

You sound like you've developed a sort of 'phobia' about doctor visits, etc. You are weary of 'bad news' and the demands that may come with it. And you may wonder that if you are found to have a bad diagnosis who will look after you, as well as follow up with your responsibilities. All reasonable. When you go in for your checkup, let all the providers know you are dealing with your husband's illness and have high anxiety now yourself; they will factor this into your care. If you simply worry you could lower your immunity which is a setup for illness in yourself. You need to tap all possible support systems for yourself, even to the point of taking a trusted friend or relative to your own appointment, to help you manage your fears/anxiety. You have been on 'red alert' awhile so your nervous system is easily triggered; look into holistic and standard methods for dealing with anxiety so it doesn't get the better of you. And don't let anyone minimize your feelings because they are your body telling you that You need support too, to face the challenges in your life.

Michele, I get what you are saying but one thing you cannot overlook is the fact that everybody has different sensitivities. You know how some people faint at the sight of blood. Others could see a blood bath and not feel a thing.

So yes, people in war situations have experienced unimaginable horror. PTSD? No kidding. But caregivers are in another kind of trench. It may not be the immediate soul wrenching horror of stuffing your buddies intestines back into his body but it's still a mind numbing continuous day to day erosion of your spirit when you have to deal day after day after day with one small emergency after another after another.

Yes, it's PTSD. Don't kid yourself.

I am so glad you recognize the need for professional help. You are right. And you are far from alone.
I would never have been strong enough to be in home caregiver to anyone 24/7, but I did manage my brother's Trust as Trustee and I was his POA. Just getting all of that together from half the state away made me so anxious I thought my eye tic was permanent. I was jumpy. I was afraid. And I will be so honest as to say it has, at 80, left me less strong. I learned a lot. I did a great job, and now it is over. I can recognize and appreciate that, BUT, it has made me a bit more "fearful" of everything from airline flights (which I had cancelled until I thought I'd go nuts) of finances and documentation, of loss of my partner and what that would mean. To say nothing of the tech that keeps passing us by as we age. It has in some ways made me stronger, but in some ways there is--just as you observed--a PTSD that persists.
I wish you the best and my heart goes out to you.
(And here's just how nutty it can get. Sometimes I lay in bed awaiting sleep saying "spell world backwards" or "subtract by 7s from 100", and etc. Hee hee. It is both funny and NOT).

My mother is 90 years old. I live with her and am her caregiver - Home Care comes once a week to give her a bath, which she complains about every time. I am SO unhappy and depressed and can’t stand being here any longer. I know she’s my mom and dementia isn’t her fault but all I want to do is run away - better yet, move her into a home. Our relationship is in ruins and my patience is pretty much gone. The constant bedding changes, diapering, monitoring her every move is just too much for me to handle and I’m a wreck. She’s having no fun either. A facility? Waiting lists and financially almost un-doable. I hate to say that I hope she dies soon. Terrible to say, I know, but that’s how I feel. Poor her AND poor me! I feel as if I have PTSD too and I don’t think that’s unusual given all the postings on here about caregiver burnout and depression.