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Realistically, people aren't getting PTSD from a startup. You get PTSD from an event that was traumatic. C-PTSD is from multiple events that were traumatic. You

Realistically, people aren't getting PTSD from a startup. You get PTSD from an event that was traumatic. C-PTSD is from multiple events that were traumatic. Your startup may be stressful but it's not traumatic and doesn't compare with someone putting a knife to your eye and demanding your money. You're not going to have flashbacks to reading a rejection email - you may replay it which is different from a flashback. The fact this post starts off with something as nonsensical as "knuckling through PTSD from my startup" really says where the entire posts goes and it doesn't change.

seanhunter 3y ago
You absolutely can get PTSD from a startup. Source: I still have trauma and panic attacks from one startup I co-founded. At the time the stress was so severe I got pneumonia, couldn't sleep etc etc etc.
- that_guy_iain 3y ago
  Is this actually diagnosed? Panic attacks don't mean you have PTSD nor does being stressed mean you suffered a traumatic event.
  - scrollaway 3y ago
    Maybe try empathy. Startup life can be seriously fucked up and the long hours / low sleep / unhealthy routine it’s easy to fall into can really ruin your life. Coupled with founders fighting, drama boiling over months or years of invested time, etc. What, it’s not traumatic enough for you because you didn’t get to hear a gunshot?
    - that_guy_iain 3y ago
      Startup life may be tough, but it does not cause PTSD. PTSD is literally a thing that is medically defined. They may have came away from their startup journey in a bad place and in need of mental care but almost certainly they did not come away from it with PTSD. It is insulting to those of us who have it when someone says their stress and anxiety are anywhere close to the symptoms we have from PTSD. Just like it's insulting to say you have OCD when you like to have thing colour co-orientated.
      - scrollaway 3y ago
        You are not a psychiatrist. Stop diagnosing people. An acquaintance of mine did get PTSD from startup life. Yes, medically diagnosed. This being HN, you won’t have trouble finding such people. Just because some people exaggerate doesn’t mean it can’t happen, and kindly, quit the whiteknighting when you’re doing exactly what you’re accusing others to do.
        that_guy_iain 3y ago
        > Stop diagnosing people. I pointed out it's very unlikely to get it from a startup and when someone said they had it I asked if it was diagnosed. They went on to say it wasn't. > quit the whiteknighting I don't think you know what that means. You're using it wrong.
  - seanhunter 3y ago
    Wow seriously? It's a blog post and they weren't talking to their therapist they were talking to some narcissist who went on to write about it to be smug. I don't think the person was saying they had clinical PTSD and neither am I in this case. It's terrifying that I have to say this.
    - that_guy_iain 3y ago
      You just said you had PTSD. I asked if you were diganosed and clearly the answer is no. It's terrifying that you don't understand the difference between stress and traumatic events. That you don't understand that it's not cute to compare yourself to people who have debilitating flashbacks. The difference between "clinical PTSD" and your "PTSD" is one is actually PTSD and the other is you need some help destressing. If you even had half an insight into how bad PTSD actually is, you would trivalise it. With nonsense claims such as "I got PTSD from being stressed".
      - seanhunter 3y ago
        I didn’t say I had ptsd I said I had severe stress from which I concluded that it is possible that someone could get ptsd. Secondly focussing on whether or not someone has been diagnosed is kind of missing the point.
    - heleninboodler 3y ago
      > I don't think the person was saying they had clinical PTSD Well, I think part of the criticism of the blog post is that it's written as if the person must actually have had clinical PTSD. Otherwise he wouldn't have any cause to get preachy about how terrible it is to joke about it and "knuckle through."
svnt 3y ago
Having been through both ample random street conflict and an extended sleep-deprived traumatic startup experience I’ll take the muggings, please. Get more life experience before you declare what’s not possible.
- that_guy_iain 3y ago
  > Having been through both ample random street conflict and an extended sleep-deprived traumatic startup experience I’ll take the muggings, please. Preferring one over the other doesn't take away what is and what is not a medical condition. This is like saying "Having have fallen down some stairs and having climb a mountaing. I would rather fall down some stairs." in relation to someone the chances you got a head injury from just walking up a mountain isn't very likely. Realistically, you could fall down some stairs and not hit your head. You could walk up a mountain and fall down and hit your head - walking up the mountain didn't cause your head injury but was what you were doing when you did the thing that caused your head injury. You can be mugged and not even get Accute Stress Disorder (ASD) never mind PTSD. > Get more life experience before you declare what’s not possible. I highly suspect I have a lot more life experience than you. To the point that there is a reason why I know the difference between PTSD and C-PTSD. And that you can't even be diganosed with PTSD for 6-months after the event. Before then it's ASD.
  - svnt 3y ago
    You sound like a grad student or someone who identifies very strongly with their specific trauma by the amount of exclusionary gatekeeping you’re trying to do here. What will you do with your identity after the next major revision of the DSM?
    - that_guy_iain 3y ago
      This comment really embodies what the whole "I got PTSD from my startup" is really about. It's not really about the truth, it's that people want to say it's so hard they ended up with a life changing mental condition that requires years of mental health care. The fact you even think it's some how bad to gatekeep a medical condition to those with the medical condition really shows you're really detached from reality. Seriously, this is the problem with today's world. We have a bunch of people who struggle so much they need to pretend they have medical conditions they don't to make themselves feel better. Are you going to pretend you got MS or ALS next? Or just stick with mental conditions in the hope that people don't understand how much nonsense you're spouting? The fact you can't understand if you're going to have a blog post about psychology and mental health, starting it off with stuff that is complete nonsense about mental health really shows they don't know what they're talking about. But instead of realising this was a nonsensical blog post by someone who couldn't grasp the bare basics of mental health. You're too busy trying to claim that startups are soo hard you get PTSD from it. It's so traumatic the stress you endured you were terrifed. Aww poor you. In otherwords, you're a wimp. You went through some stress and it broke you. Something that didn't threaten your safety terrifed you so badly that you're broken. Except, it's all nonsense. You're just holding on to this PTSD as a way of saying you were very stressed because you literally don't know what you're talking about.

seanhunter 3y ago

You absolutely can get PTSD from a startup. Source: I still have trauma and panic attacks from one startup I co-founded. At the time the stress was so severe I got pneumonia, couldn't sleep etc etc etc.

that_guy_iain 3y ago
Is this actually diagnosed? Panic attacks don't mean you have PTSD nor does being stressed mean you suffered a traumatic event.
- scrollaway 3y ago
  Maybe try empathy. Startup life can be seriously fucked up and the long hours / low sleep / unhealthy routine it’s easy to fall into can really ruin your life. Coupled with founders fighting, drama boiling over months or years of invested time, etc. What, it’s not traumatic enough for you because you didn’t get to hear a gunshot?
  - that_guy_iain 3y ago
    Startup life may be tough, but it does not cause PTSD. PTSD is literally a thing that is medically defined. They may have came away from their startup journey in a bad place and in need of mental care but almost certainly they did not come away from it with PTSD. It is insulting to those of us who have it when someone says their stress and anxiety are anywhere close to the symptoms we have from PTSD. Just like it's insulting to say you have OCD when you like to have thing colour co-orientated.
    - scrollaway 3y ago
      You are not a psychiatrist. Stop diagnosing people. An acquaintance of mine did get PTSD from startup life. Yes, medically diagnosed. This being HN, you won’t have trouble finding such people. Just because some people exaggerate doesn’t mean it can’t happen, and kindly, quit the whiteknighting when you’re doing exactly what you’re accusing others to do.
      - that_guy_iain 3y ago
        > Stop diagnosing people. I pointed out it's very unlikely to get it from a startup and when someone said they had it I asked if it was diagnosed. They went on to say it wasn't. > quit the whiteknighting I don't think you know what that means. You're using it wrong.
- seanhunter 3y ago
  Wow seriously? It's a blog post and they weren't talking to their therapist they were talking to some narcissist who went on to write about it to be smug. I don't think the person was saying they had clinical PTSD and neither am I in this case. It's terrifying that I have to say this.
  - that_guy_iain 3y ago
    You just said you had PTSD. I asked if you were diganosed and clearly the answer is no. It's terrifying that you don't understand the difference between stress and traumatic events. That you don't understand that it's not cute to compare yourself to people who have debilitating flashbacks. The difference between "clinical PTSD" and your "PTSD" is one is actually PTSD and the other is you need some help destressing. If you even had half an insight into how bad PTSD actually is, you would trivalise it. With nonsense claims such as "I got PTSD from being stressed".
    - seanhunter 3y ago
      I didn’t say I had ptsd I said I had severe stress from which I concluded that it is possible that someone could get ptsd. Secondly focussing on whether or not someone has been diagnosed is kind of missing the point.
  - heleninboodler 3y ago
    > I don't think the person was saying they had clinical PTSD Well, I think part of the criticism of the blog post is that it's written as if the person must actually have had clinical PTSD. Otherwise he wouldn't have any cause to get preachy about how terrible it is to joke about it and "knuckle through."

svnt 3y ago

Having been through both ample random street conflict and an extended sleep-deprived traumatic startup experience I’ll take the muggings, please. Get more life experience before you declare what’s not possible.

that_guy_iain 3y ago
> Having been through both ample random street conflict and an extended sleep-deprived traumatic startup experience I’ll take the muggings, please. Preferring one over the other doesn't take away what is and what is not a medical condition. This is like saying "Having have fallen down some stairs and having climb a mountaing. I would rather fall down some stairs." in relation to someone the chances you got a head injury from just walking up a mountain isn't very likely. Realistically, you could fall down some stairs and not hit your head. You could walk up a mountain and fall down and hit your head - walking up the mountain didn't cause your head injury but was what you were doing when you did the thing that caused your head injury. You can be mugged and not even get Accute Stress Disorder (ASD) never mind PTSD. > Get more life experience before you declare what’s not possible. I highly suspect I have a lot more life experience than you. To the point that there is a reason why I know the difference between PTSD and C-PTSD. And that you can't even be diganosed with PTSD for 6-months after the event. Before then it's ASD.
- svnt 3y ago
  You sound like a grad student or someone who identifies very strongly with their specific trauma by the amount of exclusionary gatekeeping you’re trying to do here. What will you do with your identity after the next major revision of the DSM?
  - that_guy_iain 3y ago
    This comment really embodies what the whole "I got PTSD from my startup" is really about. It's not really about the truth, it's that people want to say it's so hard they ended up with a life changing mental condition that requires years of mental health care. The fact you even think it's some how bad to gatekeep a medical condition to those with the medical condition really shows you're really detached from reality. Seriously, this is the problem with today's world. We have a bunch of people who struggle so much they need to pretend they have medical conditions they don't to make themselves feel better. Are you going to pretend you got MS or ALS next? Or just stick with mental conditions in the hope that people don't understand how much nonsense you're spouting? The fact you can't understand if you're going to have a blog post about psychology and mental health, starting it off with stuff that is complete nonsense about mental health really shows they don't know what they're talking about. But instead of realising this was a nonsensical blog post by someone who couldn't grasp the bare basics of mental health. You're too busy trying to claim that startups are soo hard you get PTSD from it. It's so traumatic the stress you endured you were terrifed. Aww poor you. In otherwords, you're a wimp. You went through some stress and it broke you. Something that didn't threaten your safety terrifed you so badly that you're broken. Except, it's all nonsense. You're just holding on to this PTSD as a way of saying you were very stressed because you literally don't know what you're talking about.