Post Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD

I have often seen people who have been diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder, or emotionally unstable/borderline personality disorder, when in fact after taking a detailed history, they actually have PTSD or complex PTSD.

I recently saw a patient who had been labouring under a diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder or depression for many years, who in fact had PTSD. They had seen multiple other clinicians and they had tried multiple antidepressants (most of them without any significant beneficial effect). Also, they had never done an evidenced based psychological therapy for PTSD, such as trauma focused cognitive behavioural or eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.

They found me making the diagnosis of PTSD extremely beneficial because they had long suspected the diagnosis, but having a clinician believing their story was incredibly validating. Following this some of their PTSD symptoms started to reduce, and this was before I had signposted them to an experienced Clinical Psychologist to start trauma focused therapy. I also completed a thorough medication review and started them on an antidepressant which had been beneficial in the past but which other specialists had been unwilling to restart.