Question:
Can anyone out there with a dual diagnosis of PTSD and BI shed any light on this? I struggle all the time with agencies who refuse BI-related skills training when someone has a "mild" BI diagnosis and let's say something you could call a "pre-existing psychological condition" -- they don't get BI related services because the psychological stuff was "pre-exisiting" and the argument is that it needs to get treated first. I learned the most from in terms of how to deal with stuff (and compensate) had an aneurysm (sp?). Isn't what matters what functions you're struggling with because brain connections are misfiring, rather than what caused stuff to misfire in the first place?

Answer: If a doctor does not share a BI diagnosis -- or even a "possible" BI diagnosis, wouldn't this adversely affect the kinds of services other agencies might be inclined to offer (eg. offering mental health services as opposed to compensatory skills training, for example) -- again these questions are all based on the assumption that I understood the doctor to say that there are situations in which a person should not be told they have or may have a brain injury. Mild traumatic brain injury does not produce post traumatic stress disorder. We challenged the widely-held belief that patients who experience mild traumatic brain injury can develop a concomitant post traumatic stress disorder. We found marked differences in the symptoms reported by traumatic brain injured (TBI) patients and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients.