Effects of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder on mental skills?

[felipe]

I've been diagnosed by my psychiatrist with PTSD. I don't completely agree with this diagnosis because I don't consider the event that happened to me to be a real trauma, but he obviously knows what he is talking about.

My problem is that since I became ill, I seem to have lost most of my mental skills and knowledge to work in my field. I am a scientist with several graduate degrees and 25 years of experience as an executive, and people who know me describe me as brilliant and talented, and yet, I seem to have lost all my mental abilities. I have been jobless for the past year or so, not because I cannot find work, on the contrary. I've had offers for well-paid jobs coming almost every week but I am terrified to accept anything. A few weeks ago, I accepted an executive appointment with the government in a position that should have been like a walk in the park for me. After 2 stressful days on the job, I decided to quit, pretexting family reasons, but the truth is that I couldn't understand anything that my own staff was telling me. I can no longer hold a simple conversation in my field, as if all the data in my brain had been wiped out.

Is it possible that PTSD affect the intellect like this?