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Complex PTSD


Katie14

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Katie14

Gaga tweeted yesterday that she has Complex PTSD, which is the most severe form of the disorder. It basically means that a person has the regular PTSD symptoms and then other additional symptoms on top of that. It can happen when people are exposed to prolonged, repeated traumas. 

"Emotional symptoms may include:

-Rage displayed through violence, destruction of property, or theft

-Depression, denial, fear of abandonment, thoughts of suicide, anger issues

-Low self-esteem, panic attacks, self-loathing

-Perfectionism, blaming others instead of dealing with a situation, selective memory

-Loss of faith in humanity, distrust, isolation, inability to form close personal relationships

-Shame, guilt, focusing on wanting revenge

-Flashbacks, memory repression, dissociation

Victims of C-PTSD may also have physical symptoms (Somatization), such as:

-Eating disorders, substance abuse, alcoholism, promiscuity

-Chronic pain

-Cardiovascular problems

-Gastrointestinal problems.

-Migraines

Complex PTSD can be caused by any type of severe and long-term trauma, and usually involves situations where the victim is held captive and unable to escape.

The types of traumatic situations which can cause this disorder include:

-long-term childhood physical or sexual abuse

-long-term domestic violence

-concentration camps or prisoner of war camps

-prostitution brothels or sex trafficking

-organized child exploitation rings."

After reading this yesterday, I didn't really understand how Gaga's situation could be compared to long term severe child abuse, prolonged domestic violence, or being in a concentration camp. But, then I started thinking. Being as famous as she was/is is sort of like being imprisioned in a way. I remember when Gaga met a girl backstage at the BTWB who has a muscular disorder that makes it really difficult for her to move, Gaga leaned in to her and said, "Sometimes I feel like I can't move". She said this because its so difficult for her to go anywhere without being hounded by people. She can't be fully free anymore, as she said in the CBS interview. And then being essentially forced by her manager/team/label/whoever to constantly be performing and working for years at a time with zero regard to her mental and physical health (even after expressing that she wasn't feeling well) is similar to being held captive and abused. The people who were supposed to be managing her and nurturing her, as well as her career, were instead taking full advantage of her. She was so passionate about her music and artistry that she went along with it. She may not have been fully forced as people in a concentration camp would be (or maybe she had to follow the schedule according to her contract? I don't know) but if she didn't do it, she probably would have been dropped. So she was forced in a way. I definitely see the parallels and its devastating knowing what she went through. 

What do you think?

Spoiler

Its finals week and i'm clearly looking for a distraction. 

 

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The Surrealist
2 minutes ago, Katie14 said:

"People with complex PTSD can have a wide range of symptoms including:

-an inability to control their emotions

-dissociation

-blanking out or losing memories

-difficulties with their sense of identity or body image

-physical symptoms that can’t be explained medically (Somatization)

-disturbed relationships

-an inability to trust others

-being vulnerable to abuse or exploitation

-self-harm, suicide attempts and substance abuse."

Gaga has all of these. F*ck.

Hope she fights it with therapy.

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Ryusei

It's incredible that nothing ever went wrong when she was on stage or during an interview.. unless that explains this moment

IsT53L.gif 

Musery
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The Surrealist
Just now, Ryusei said:

It's incredible that nothing ever went wrong when she was on stage or during an interview.. unless that explains this moment

IsT53L.gif 

She blanked out & looked disoriented in several interviews.

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Katie14
1 minute ago, Ryusei said:

It's incredible that nothing ever went wrong when she was on stage or during an interview.. unless that explains this moment

IsT53L.gif 

I wonder that too. Maybe things happened but she covered it up really well. In that interview Gaga was so exhausted, since she hadn't slept in 48 hours, she was unable to cover it up so to speak. Im pretty sure she was dissociating in that interview. Thats really the only explanation. 

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TerrenceV2
3 minutes ago, Ryusei said:

It's incredible that nothing ever went wrong when she was on stage or during an interview.. unless that explains this moment

IsT53L.gif 

 
 
 

She was just trying too hard to be avant-garde artful here. Like the rest of the ARTPOP era.

playground love - josef salvat
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i think you hit the nail on the head, OP, & i too have been thinking a lot about this & her recently. i've been discussing it with my bf, and its nice to see on ggd that i'm not the only one who interprets all of what happened to her this way. 

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Katie14
2 minutes ago, Sycamore said:

She blanked out & looked disoriented in several interviews.

When? I honestly don't remember her being out of it besides in 2011 during the Extra and Jimmy Kimmel interviews. 

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Katie14
2 minutes ago, buddh1sm said:

i think you hit the nail on the head, OP, & i too have been thinking a lot about this & her recently. i've been discussing it with my bf, and its nice to see on ggd that i'm not the only one who interprets all of what happened to her this way. 

Im so disturbed by her letter yesterday and I can't stop being concerned and thinking about it. I mean, she told us about a lot of the mental suffering she has been going through the past few years, but to read about all the symptoms in such detail is still shocking. 

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16 minutes ago, Katie14 said:

Im so disturbed by her letter yesterday and I can't stop being concerned and thinking about it. I mean, she told us about a lot of the mental suffering she has been going through the past few years, but to read about all the symptoms in such detail is still shocking. 

same. i was floored by the eq thing at yale when she opened up about her anxiety & depression (i have a mood disorder too) and it was like the pieces started falling into place. like it started to explain why she is/was the way she is/was. but then this is like a whole new level. i really feel for her.

she is so brave to speak up about her mental illnesses & to not come across like a mindless, flawless pop star. 

 

eta: this letter & some threads got me thinking about the lack of wigs this era. i have a theory its connected to her PTSD & gives her some claustrophobia that can be hard to manage. 

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I feel so worried for her now that I've read all this :( Having just one of the symptoms must be awful, but having them all while being famous must be a living nightmare. I wonder if she's always so nice to everyone because having this made her have a lot of empathy. She's one of the strongest persons I've ever seen

Honestly, I wouldn't really mind if she took a 5 year break now

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Katie14
7 minutes ago, buddh1sm said:

same. i was floored by the eq thing at yale when she opened up about her manic depression (i have a mood disorder too) and it was like the pieces started falling into place. like it started to explain why she is/was the way she is/was. but then this is like a whole new level. i really feel for her.

she is so brave to speak up about her mental illnesses & to not come across like a mindless, flawless pop star. 

 

eta: this letter & some threads got me thinking about the lack of wigs this era. i have a theory its connected to her PTSD & gives her some claustrophobia that can be hard to manage. 

I don't think she ever said she has manic depression. She has anxiety and depression, but bi polar is different. She is incredibly brave. Its people like her who can cause huge shifts in awareness and understanding of issues. 

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24 minutes ago, Katie14 said:

-an inability to control their emotions

-dissociation

-difficulties with their sense of identity or body image

-physical symptoms that can’t be explained medically (Somatization)

-disturbed relationships

-an inability to trust others

-being vulnerable to abuse or exploitation

-self-harm, suicide attempts and substance abuse."

:(

it wasn't laaaahv
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its entirely possible i misheard her when she was speaking at yale (i'm a hard of hearing person.) and you're right, she touches so many lives & it shows she's aware of that and can utilize herself to steer the conversation in a direction it doesn't usually go. 

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10 minutes ago, buddh1sm said:

same. i was floored by the eq thing at yale when she opened up about her manic depression (i have a mood disorder too) and it was like the pieces started falling into place. like it started to explain why she is/was the way she is/was. but then this is like a whole new level. i really feel for her.

she is so brave to speak up about her mental illnesses & to not come across like a mindless, flawless pop star. 

 

eta: this letter & some threads got me thinking about the lack of wigs this era. i have a theory its connected to her PTSD & gives her some claustrophobia that can be hard to manage. 

I think she just stopped wearing them because they were really damaging for her hair and very uncomfortable. I doubt she would have been able to handle the claustrophobia for 8 whole years

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