Multiple Factors ... ?

[lbrown]

Although I've never been diagnosed, I believe that I have severe PTSD. It was caused by a series of on-going persistent traumatic events, along with heavy drinking and drug use and a messed up family life. Although I am a seemingly "normal" person--and student that works full-time, a girlfriend, a researcher-- I am consciously and sub-consciously haunted by my past. There are obvious reasons for the conscious stress-- the memories, dreams, etc. However, I am also experiencing different psychological lows that I think may be caused by my stress hormones-- I'm not sure how accurate these findings are because they were posted on Wikipedia, so that's why I am asking here.

"PTSD displays biochemical changes in the brain and body that differ from other psychiatric disorders such as major depression. Individuals diagnosed with PTSD respond more strongly to a dexamethasone suppression test than individuals diagnosed with clinical depression.[8][9]

In addition, most people with PTSD also show a low secretion of cortisol and high secretion of catecholamines in urine, with a norepinephrine/cortisol ratio consequently higher than comparable non-diagnosed individuals.[10] This is in contrast to the normative fight-or-flight response, in which both catecholamine and cortisol levels are elevated after exposure to a stressor.[citation needed]

Brain catecholamine levels are low,[11] and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) concentrations are high.[12][13] Together, these findings suggest abnormality in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

Given the strong cortisol suppression to dexamethasone in PTSD, HPA axis abnormalities are likely predicated on strong negative feedback inhibition of cortisol, itself likely due to an increased sensitivity of glucocorticoid receptors.[14] Some researchers have associated the response to stress in PTSD with long-term exposure to high levels of norepinephrine and low levels of cortisol, a pattern associated with improved learning in animals.[citation needed]

Translating this reaction to human conditions gives a pathophysiological explanation for PTSD by a maladaptive learning pathway to fear response through a hypersensitive, hyperreactive and hyperresponsive HPA axis.[15]

Low cortisol levels may predispose individuals to PTSD: Following war trauma, Swedish soldiers serving in Bosnia and Herzegovina with low pre-service salivary cortisol levels had a higher risk of reacting with PTSD symptoms, following war trauma, than soldiers with normal pre-service levels.[16] Because cortisol is normally important in restoring homeostasis after the stress response, it is thought that trauma survivors with low cortisol experience a poorly contained—that is, longer and more distressing—response, setting the stage for PTSD.

However, there is considerable controversy within the medical community regarding the neurobiology of PTSD. A review of existing studies on this subject showed no clear relationship between cortisol levels and PTSD. Only a slight majority have found a decrease in cortisol levels while others have found no effect or even an increase."

-From article on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stress_disorder

Does this mean that my PTSD symptoms could be causing the following symptoms I am experiencing now?
They are: over-reactivity, sensitivity, easily offended, aggressive, experiencing extremes of high and low moods, fatigue, suicidal thoughts, risky behavior, generalized anxiety disorder, etc.

[Jaybay]

What label gets placed on you right now isn't really what matters.  You mention that you have suicidal thoughts.  That alone is a really good reason to see a therapist, and a medical doctor.  Have you ever tried antidepressant medication?  I've been on it about 10 years and it made a tremendous difference in my life.  The little "magic pill" won't make your problems go away, but kind of clears out the cobwebs so you can deal with them.  You don't have to be haunted any longer.  :-)