Finally saw my real psych diagnoses and was suprised

[rox63]

I've been in and out of therapy for about 20 years, and have been on anti-depressant meds for about as long. I've always known that I was suffered from depression and anxiety, and those are what my professionals always told me were my diagnoses (major depression with recurrance and general anxiety disorder) when I asked. A while ago, I had to change to new doctors when my insurance changed, and I arranged for my medical records to be sent to the new docs. To my suprise, the new docs gave me the printout of my records after my first visit. They said I could do what I wanted with them. The pile of papers sat in my file cabinet for months. I was afraid to read what was in there for psych diagnoses, even though I thought I knew what it would say.

I finally got the courage to take the papers out and read them a few days ago. They documented the depression and anxiety that I expected to see. But they also documented that I have PTSD and OCD. In fact, my former counselor listed PTSD as my primary dx. The PTSD dx took me by total suprise, but not the OCD. I always thought I had some aspects of OCD, since I tend to get obsessed with certain things for months at a time. It it has never taken over my life to the point where I couldn't function in a job or in some interpersonal relationships. But I never even considered that I may have PTSD, even though I came from a thoroughly screwed-up and abusive family situation.

This news has me off-balance and questioning what I know about myself and my past. Intellectually, I know that I am still the same person I was before I found this out. But it feels like I am swimming in new and dangerous waters. Has anyone else here ever experienced this sort of thing before?