Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event, either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe emotional distress. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) can develop after a very stressful, frightening, or distressing event, or after a prolonged traumatic experience. Common causes of PTSD include being the victim of a crime, childbirth experiences, childhood or domestic abuse, homicide of a loved one, and mass violence.
Research over the past two decades has shown that the effects of post-traumatic stress can be lifelong, chronic, and highly variable. Children who are abused or neglected may develop symptoms of PTSD or CPTSD. Common causes of PTSD include being the victim of a crime, childbirth experiences, childhood or domestic abuse, homicide of a loved one, and mass violence.
Complex PTSD can develop after a person has experienced prolonged or repeated trauma, such as combat, sexual assault, natural or man-made disasters, or any experience that feels overwhelming and life-threatening. It usually involves situations where the victim has little control and is unable to escape. Long-term trauma can result from situations where the victim has little control and is unable to escape.
Some common causes of PTSD include being involved in a car crash, being raped or sexually assaulted, being abused, harassed, or bullied, including racism, sexism, and homophobia. Understanding the causes, symptoms, and treatments of PTSD can help individuals better manage their mental health and cope with the challenges they face.
📹 5 signs of complex PTSD that most people miss
Have you ever heard of Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD)? The World Health Organization Department of …
What is it like having complex PTSD?
Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that is characterized by a constellation of symptoms, including feelings of worthlessness, shame, guilt, emotional control issues, difficulty forming and maintaining relationships, and difficulties in regulating emotions. These symptoms often result from recurring or long-term traumatic events, such as childhood abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse, torture, slavery, or war.
Can you get PTSD from a bad experience?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition that develops subsequent to a severe or prolonged traumatic event, such as vehicular accidents, assault, abuse, occupational exposure, health complications, childbirth, mortality, warfare, or torture. PTSD affects approximately one-third of individuals who have experienced a severe traumatic event.
What does a CPTSD episode look like?
Complex PTSD, also known as C-PTSD or cPTSD, is a mental health condition resulting from chronic long-term trauma. It includes core symptoms such as flashbacks, avoidance, and hypervigilance. CPTSD can develop due to anxiety, flashbacks, avoidance, heightened emotional responses, relationship difficulties, long-term abuse, domestic violence, human or sex trafficking, war, and frequent community violence. It can also result from long-term child abuse, domestic violence, human or sex trafficking, war, and frequent community violence.
Can something trigger PTSD years later?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological disorder that can manifest immediately following a traumatic event or at any point between weeks, months, and years later. The disorder affects approximately one in three individuals, yet the precise etiology remains elusive. Complex PTSD, a variant of PTSD, may be diagnosed in individuals who have been subjected to repeated traumatic experiences, such as neglect, abuse, or violence. In such cases, the disorder may not manifest until years after the initial event.
What does PTSD feel like physically?
PTSD is a mental health condition that can lead to changes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, as well as physical problems. These can be acute or chronic, with acute symptoms lasting for a short time and chronic ones such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, heart disease, chronic pain, fatigue, and decreased life expectancy. The person may not realize the connection between their physical symptoms and the traumatic event, and chronic pain may serve as a reminder of the trauma, which may cause or worsen other PTSD symptoms, depression, or alcohol and prescription medication misuse.
Many trauma survivors feel helpless, leading to the need for support from loved ones. The most powerful approach is to be there for the person, show acceptance and concern, and listen without judgment. Encouraging healthy living, such as diet, exercise, and avoiding smoking, drugs, and excessive alcohol use, can also be beneficial.
Educating oneself about trauma, PTSD, and recovery and healing can help individuals understand and be more supportive. It is also important to take care of one’s own physical and mental health.
Is it possible to have PTSD from a past life?
Unhealed emotional trauma can lead to PTSD, but it can also be carried from past lives. This trauma can cause present-day fears, phobias, and panic attacks. If you experience these conditions, you may be suffering from Past Life Traumatic Stress Disorder. The color choices in a personality test reveal how many past lives you have lived. Understanding how to carry unhealed emotional trauma from one life to the next is crucial for managing PTSD.
Does PTSD ever go away?
Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common response to a traumatic event, characterized by shock, painful memories, and emotional distress. These symptoms typically appear soon after the trauma and typically subside within a few weeks or months. However, some PTSD symptoms can persist for years, especially if untreated. Symptoms can remain consistent in severity, with periods of mildness and flare-ups. They can worsen during stress or when trauma survivors are reminded of the trauma. The duration of PTSD may also depend on the effectiveness of treatment received.
Can past mistakes cause PTSD?
Trauma can have a lasting impact on our mental health, leading to conditions like PTSD, anxiety, or depression. To heal and move on from the past, it is crucial to create a strong foundation for healing. To start this journey, give yourself credit for recognizing a problem and reframing it to “How am I keeping going even though I have faced such scary situations?”
Find support from friends, family, online support groups, or therapists who can help you heal. Be easy on yourself, as you are not alone in your feelings. Search online for stories of people who have had similar experiences to help you understand that you are not alone.
Take one situation at a time, focusing on how your thoughts and emotions are tied to your experiences and how these thoughts and feelings impact your reactions and relationships. Identify what is triggering you and consider avoiding it, talking it out with someone, or focusing on changing negative thoughts, finding courage, or safety.
Remember that healing is a process, taking positive steps forward and backward, and it takes time to move forward. Don’t rush it, as it takes time and effort to heal.
Can you get PTSD 10 years later?
It is not uncommon for traumatic experiences to result in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which may manifest years after the initial event.
Can you have PTSD from regret?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently results in a sense of guilt, particularly among survivors, for a number of reasons, including regret about past decisions, feelings of responsibility for the actions of others, or guilt about the impact of mental health on loved ones. The objective of therapy for PTSD is to facilitate the acceptance of these feelings and to deconstruct them. An understanding of the relationship between PTSD and guilt can facilitate acceptance and provide relief.
📹 COMPLEX PTSD (CPTSD) AND WHY WE ISOLATE
If you have a difficult time truly letting people in, being highly triggered by others or if you tend to be someone who isolates from …
If you have Complex PTSD you may be particularly likely to experience what some people call an ’emotional flashback’, in which you have intense feelings that you originally felt during the trauma, such as fear, shame, sadness, or despair. You might react to events in the present as if they are causing these feelings, without realizing that you are having a flashback.
I was diagnosed with CPTSD almost a year ago. I am a victim of abuse with my dad, sexually assaulted in high school, bullied through most of my school life, had an awful relationship with my ex and discovered a loved one dead. I am still struggling. I still have irregular emotions, flashbacks, hypervilgence, and a slew of other symptoms. Its a terrible thing to deal with. I really hope we raise more awareness of this new disorder. Since I learned how new it is. Thank you so much for the kind words! Means alot to me. Also glad to be able to show that you are not alone with these internal battles.
Timestamps! 1:26 – 1: Frequent feelings of trauma 2:25 – 2: Difficulty controlling your emotions 3:12 – 3: Were you saying something? 4:08 – 4: Physical symptoms when reminded of past trauma 4:56 – 5: Avoiding your trauma triggers I hope everyone is doing well. If not, remember that you’re not alone. I’m so proud of you for being here today, whether it was just getting out of bed, or simply waking up. I’m here for you, even though we may not know each other. <3
“IT WILL BE OK.” …One of these days, I will get this dealt with. Your articles make me understand so much about myself and how badly things really are. If anything the soft tone voice also makes me feel calm in researching and learning mental illnesses. …sorry if this comment is phasing randomly, I sometimes find it hard to think, but that’s also probably due to the fact I might have ADHD, but yeah.
I didn’t know about the dissociation until now!! Nor did I even know I was going thro that with my ptsd!! This is something I’ll definitely be talking about with my trauma therapist when I see her next!! Thx soooo much Psych2go! U’re really changing the world and educating others around the world!! Props to u!! 😊
I’ve had CPTSD (and depression, anxiety, OCD, mysophonia) for 30 years. The things I’ve seen, survived, and lived through in my childhood and then surviving the war and living through that… the complex, multiple and long term trauma… it has almost destroyed me completely. I am just now starting to feel my body and brain slowly reconnect, but I am yet to FEEL safe – truly safe. It’s a deep wounding of the soul and it can take decades to heal. For all the people that have lived through horrors of life… I understand your suffering. 🙏🙏🙏
I was diagnosed with cptsd since my teenage, spent my whole life fighting cptsd. Also suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Not until my wife recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. This is something that really need to be use globally to help people with similar health challenges.
I grew up in a horrible environment. Our “home” was a war zone where nothing was stable. I would watch my mother be degraded and beaten. On top of that, I was neglected but also physically and verbally abused. I deal with cptsd still at 28, but its gotten a lot better. Teenage years and early 20s I had the flashbacks everyday, the nightmares often where i wake up crying, and the dissociation episodes were very scary and would last hours at times. I could not control my anger around people who loved me, and this wasn’t fair to them. I felt like a piece of trash unworthy of love for a very long time. Personally, the more I learned about toxic parents and how they affect us, the more it helped me heal. Its been constant work for years as I’ve continued to get help, try different interventions, and generally keep researching but it has made my quality of life much better. Don’t give up. What happened to you IS horrible and you did NOT deserve it. You are worthy of love.
I recently started getting therapy and made an instant breakthrough when my therapist asked if I experienced any trauma. I never gave much thought to it, but I have PTSD. I was bullied a lot as a kid. But the worst part was a teacher was bullying me. She was my language arts teacher and I was having a hard time. She didn’t make it better she just kept reprimanding me, even taking me to talk to the principal a few times. I then had to go to tutoring (which I’m just now realizing it was probably considered remedial classes) and the kids made fun of me for it. My parents had enough and pulled me out before the last couple weeks when I told them what my teacher said. She stood up in front of the class and said, “You all did really well this year. Where my name ’s future in language arts is yet to be determined.” Knowing I have PTSD from my time in that school explains so much now. My anxieties. Making presentations all the way through college (only getting worse each time). My anger when I mess something up. My tendency to go “auto-pilot” when doing things like driving (disassociation). Meeting new people, making new friends and finding a girlfriend. It was only made worse with the lockdowns, I lost all my friends because we lost touch. All my anxiety, depression, irritability, loneliness, and pain stems from one old bag who is probably dead now. And now I’m 27 trying to treat something I didn’t even know I had since I was 12. It sucks. The principal told my mom that “A lot of students that had trouble with her came back to thank her.
I was diagnosed recently I was physically assaulted by my dentist from the ages of 4-8 and had a hard time going to doctors or dentists because I felt like I couldn’t trust them years later when I was starting my senior year of high school I was shot in a school shooting and I was more scared if the doctors than I was the shooter I was taken to the hospital and rushed into emergency surgery where I suffered from anesthesia awareness I could feel the breathing tube in my throat and the initial stab from the surgeon until I blacked out from pain now I fear so many things and still feel physical pain I’m training to be a nurse but I can’t work in ORs or really anything to do with surgery because the setting brings on the most horrible flashbacks and panic attacks
“It. Will. Be. Ok.” guys stay strong also I realized that what I thought was traditional PTSD was actually CPTSD oop we all learn sometimes and thank you to everyone and Psych2Go for spreading awareness and support for so many people. Have a beautiful day you amazing people! Enjoy the summer solstice! (I smell a pun somewhere but I can’t exactly find it)
My mum took her life nearly 5 years ago, and I found her and had to do cpr even though she was gone and the image is fresh in my mind I still have night terrors to this day. I can’t think about it or her for too long at once because it feels like it’s happening right there and then. And the saddest part is, my whole childhood is a massive blank, can’t remember any good memories with her before the event happened even though I know we were best friends like we were bonded more than just mother and daughter, I can’t remember any fond memory. Our brains are funny things hey
It’s been like this since I was 6. I’m 30 now. As early as age 9, I used to dissociate so hard I’d forget who I was, while my body fought my classmates for me. By the time I tuned back in mentally, I’d be in the middle of a lecture for something I didn’t remember doing wrong. The most insidious part of c-PTSD is that it affects me even when I’m not triggered. My attention span and memory seem to be permanently damaged, and that’s cost me every job I’ve ever tried to work. When I get stressed, I have seizures that I stay conscious for. This means that even when I work 100% as hard as I can, I still screw up all the time. It’s obliterated my confidence. I get self-conscious talking about my past, because there’s so many gory details, some people assume I’m making it up. I thought everyone had stories like that. I never thought of my life as uniquely awful, because the good days are so good and I love my friends so much. But the fact is, I’ve seen some shit that a lot of people haven’t.
complex ptsd has completely changed my life especially over the last few years. it sucks that there’s so little social awareness about it. i was always called a ‘psycho’ simply for expressing my emotions that i couldn’t hold much longer. im only human too and people need to see that; especially when i do things i regret and hurt the people i love. i’ve gotten very bad social anxiety which only seems to increase. it feels like there’s 500 voices in my head telling me what to do with my life and idk where to start. all i know is there’s a difference between interests and passions. and life is too short to not follow your passions. at the end of the day we all reach the same fate. it’s just life, it’ll be over before we know it
I have C-PTSD and though I’ve mostly recovered from it, there’s always that doubt–planted by all the gaslighting and dismissive comments over the years–that my experiences were “all in my head” and that what I think is reality is completely fake/imagined. This article helps so much to confirm my reality that I definitely had/have it. Thank you so much.
i think I developed CPTSD from getting hurt every time I showed any emotion. if you have a crazy bitch mom like mine you know what im talking about. I ran away from home at 19 and found a safe place to live and oh my god. Being in a safe environment meant I was safe to express my emotions and thoughts and it set me back so far because there was just so much to process… Its a truly isolating experience. Thank you for this article, I hope more people grow aware of CPTSD
A close friend of mine who was diagnosed with C-PTSD told me about it a few years ago. When I read about what it was, how it happens, and potential triggers, I started crying because I had finally found a term for something I now realize I’ve been feeling for most of my life. I had been working with a therapist for a while as a soldier (A soldier with mental health issues? Shocking! 😱) and he helped teach me how to process old traumas. I keep going further back in my life identifying and dealing with them. It’s hard going, but worth it.
I am in the midst of recalling trauma from 37 years ago, at my mother’s and maternal grandmother’s hands. They changed my entire personality. One of the most noticeable things was what is deemed “Compulsive Compliance,” by Bessel Van der Kolk’s book The Body Keeps The Score. I became completely incapable of making my own decisions or of deciding with whom to associate. I could no longer say ‘no’ without an intense fear of losing someone (even if they were awful people, I still clung to them). I concerned myself only with others’ needs, believing that I did not even have needs. I lost the ability to truly feel happiness. I was taught that I was not allowed to be happy, joyful, sad, upset, or anything but serene compliance. I was on the verge of an emotional (angry) outburst at all times. I am reading through the book and working on publishing a memoir. I feel my story needs to be told. God’s blessings on you all for your recovery work!
I was bullied in middle school for 3 years straight and it was an almost daily occurrence that I was bullied. People made fun of me, poked around at me, and generally did as much as they could to make my day miserable. Add the fact I grew up in a household with double standards, my step brother always got away with things, but I would always get worse punishments over things. My parents never helped me talk to the school about the bullying, and constantly told me to just stand up for myself and fight them if I have to. I am not a fighter, I don’t want to hurt anyone, so I just kept telling staff to help me, almost daily. They said they’d help but they never did. Finally in 7th grade, I got so fed up with anger from being bullied that I said things I didn’t mean, and it got me emergency expelled. My bullies, still continue to get away with everything. I was punished and nobody even cared to hear me, I went to a therapist with my dad for a few months because they school told him to. My bullies then began manipulating my words that day and using them to get school security to search my bag, slander my name, and ruin my life. It never seemed to end, finally in 8th grade, on my last day, I finally snapped and fought my bully, but still afraid of punishment, I stopped because I never wanted to fight. I got punished again, and my bully manipulated the fight against me on social media and made my reputation even worse. Finally in high school, I was finally rid of my bullying, but then I would be left alone for the entire 4 years.
Never wanted to admit I have C-PTSD, but most of my symptoms involved being R’ed by a ex-friend of mine. They put me through months of sexual abuse and my reason for not leaving right away was because I was already used to abuse. I grew up with my biological dad abusing my mom, my first bf pressured me into unprotected sex, and emotionally abused me to the point I wanted to off myself. I recovered for the most part from being R’ed while drunk, but my biological dad still makes me feel betrayed. Most importantly, I’m still reminding myself that I’m safe from my first bf now
Yikes, I may have this. Was sexually assaulted at a young age and saw a loved one die right in front of me mixed with being constantly bullied. I’m not sharing my triggers because I will break down in a panic attack if I think of them. But yeah, my therapist has seen the trauma take a huge effect of my life. So uh, yeah. I feel everything in this article at a personal level. It’s just the norm.
A car wreck is a single traumatic event. It literally only happens once. As someone who has real PTSD and not this made up fair tale crap, PTSD does last your whole life, its NOT just one event. Going to war or being molested as a child does mean “it only happened once” I was molested over 200 times. People who go to war may never experience trauma, or they may experience losing their entire platoon
I was a victim of severe bullying and neglect from staff in elementary school (age 9-12), it’s a horrible trauma that’s prevented me from feeling safe while driving certain routes, taking tests, being near scoops or school busses, and even getting a job. You’d be surprised how many mundane things happen to tie back to those two and a half years of hell. I’ve bounced from therapist to therapist, and nothing ever seemed to truly work, EMDR therapy is the closest I’ve gotten to true relief but even then, it can sometimes do more harm than help. The trauma I’ve faced has completely uprooted my entire life. It’s hard trying to rebuild it; my coping mechanisms have led me to destroying my body and everyday tasks are now incredibly difficult. C-PTSD is a fate I’d never wish upon any innocent soul. To all of my C-PTSD friends out there, stay strong. 💪
I’m fighting this now. The VA keeps saying I have depression because they say I don’t have PTSD because it wasn’t tied to one specific event it was my entire life until about 30 and the military had a big role to play in it. Sexually and physically assaulted in the military, recalled after being out, sent to a combat zone, then sent home with almost zero notice of any of it. 12 days to go from civilian to in the Marines again Big mess getting over there. Literally told “grab your stuff we leave in 2 hours” when we returned to the US. Then from a combat zone to discharged. My second dd214 in hand and back home in less than 9 days. Return home to an employer who all but accused me of making it all up, forging federal documents just to take a few months off. Zero help from anyone when I returned. Then called names and made fun of by everyone when I started having issues. Homeless most of my 20s, looked sickly, barely ate. I am male by the way and yes I was sexually assaulted in front of over 100 people
I found the hidden phrase! “It will be ok” I have C-PTSD from narcissistic abuse and I’m trying to learn how to be more compassionate towards myself and acknowledge the impact the abuse has had on me, as well as other trauma related to the pandemic and other triggering things that all happened around the same time, which was right around the same time that I became an adult and was expected to know what to do with my life and be self-sufficient but currently lack the capacity to do because of my current mental/psychological state. I feel like people don’t understand how my trauma still lingers or try to cancel my emotions by telling me that I shouldn’t be feeling the way I do because my abuser’s gone now, or that I’m using my abuser as an excuse to feel or act a certain way
Trying to force someone into a situation just because you can not understand it does not make THEM a problem. That is not normal behavior. You act like a psycho Ignoring one’s distress is NOT NORMAL and in that situation the traumatized person’s reacition is not unjustified Also your brain is YOU. It does NOT do things that harm it(QUITE OBVIOUSLY) Trauma is caused by something FORCED ON YOU by the OUTSIDE THIS is why you can NOT control it/stop it from existing in your brain It is NOT you
You described how my life is. I live with c-ptsd, form multiple traumatic situations. But I don’t have so much off memory flashbacks, but more of emotional flashbacks. So everyday things can trigger me into the fear, stress and dread feeling I had at the time of some of the trauma happened. And I struggle a lot with sensory triggers and overloads, it can be really hard to be around people sometimes. But even if things are really hard, I try to except myself for needing time to heal, and I know it’s not my fault.
I’ve lost my son’s father his 2 cousins a close friend of mines and suffer from domestic abuse also my mother attempted suicide during the pandemic from fear…. I needed to hear this…..I definitely need help and be evaluated….I’ve been so depressed lately….thanks for sharing I know I’m not alone…peace and love to everyone ❤️🙏🏻🌹
With the PTSD medication we’re on, the flashbacks have lessened since recovering tragic memories last year. Apparently our childhood was extremely traumatizing and horrifying. Still get flashbacks every 1-2 weeks on average. We have many disorders and diagnoses that are difficult to live with at times but we’re learning, with our therapist, to build a successful life that is worth living. C-PTSD sucks and you’re going to just have bad days where you’re just using coping skills to recover from bad flashbacks.
#Psych2Go I like this article. I myself have CPTSD from being bullied from Gr. 1 – Gr. 11. Please do a article on trauma and non-epiletic seizures. Not alot of people know about it and I myself suffer from it every once in awhile due to past childhood trauma. I’m sure educating more people about it will raise awareness about it! Thanks for all you do!!
i was diagnosed with CPTSD but mine is a lot different then seen in these articles. CPTSD has caused me to.. not really remember my traumatic events. my trauma was over years of suffering and confusion as a kid. i don’t remember ANYTHING as a kid, and if i do it’s things that caused me overwhelming joy. my doctor said this is because my brain is blocking out those memories so i don’t have a chance to remember them and start an episode. so i still have these memories but there all clouded and i can’t remember them at the moment. that is until something exactly like the traumatic thing happened. then i’ll get a flashback. i’ll remember the memory instantly and i’ll start to feel every emotion i did when i was a kid. makes me feel very childish in the moment as they are very kid feelings but they are horrifying to experience. so if you don’t remember literally anything from your childhood it might also be a sign of CPTSD
I’m 99% sure I’m juggling both cptsd and ptsd. I’ve been in a lot of executive shutdown and can’t get myself back to working my business effectively. But my autonomy right now is very low, and I’m dealing with chronic physical pain too. I just don’t know what to do because my therapist triggered me hard too, and I can’t word right to them. I just want to be safe again. Thank you for this article. Much love yall.
For myself back when I was 3-7 I was ignored, isolated, and degraded by teachers and students. Eventually there was a time when the teachers themselves would strangle me, lock me in the principals office or yell at me for certain things. This lead to me having an intense trigger of anyone touching my neck, my friends have done it sometimes as a joke. This lead to me grabbing and clawing at their hand until they stopped, mostly ending in me completely freaked out and torn up skin. These days I have realized I do need professional help, it’s not easy since alone with this I have 9 other disorders (maybe more)
The lost of parents, and enslaved in my own family, like the fact I was told not to say no and have no rights to my own as they claim I was helpless and never able to help myself, feels like drowning in the ocean which seems to effects me for a bit and still effects a lot so I have my animals as service ones, which helps my stress. But knowing how much others neglected me when I needed help, I feel nothing a lot just so it don’t hurt but I space into time stressing from which makes my ears ring with hurt coming for 20 to 50 seconds which is why it’s hard to sleep and make me scream.
this example hit me hard. I got in my first crash getting on a highway exit and ever since then, I have had to avoid highways at all costs. Just the thought of getting on a highway en route to where I have to be is very overwhelming. One time, my roommate asked me to bring him Subway while he was at work and I missed the usual turn I take to his work. The next thing I knew the only other way to his work was on a highway. the entire time I was on the highway for the next three exits I was in a state of panic. hyperventilating, feeling like at any second the car would lose control, and it didn’t make it easier for me with it raining. I finally got off the highway and just as I was taking the left at the light and I saw his work, I realized, in my panicked state, I was on the wrong side of the road and there was a blocker preventing me to get back on the right side of the road. I just kept crying and saying out loud, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” while making sure I was driving as far left as I could so traffic could go around me. Not too much time later I finally made the turn to the parking lot of his work, parked, and cried for another 5 min. and after I thought I was done and got control again, I entered the store to deliver his food. only for him to ask me if I was okay, making me immediately start uncontrollably crying again.
Why haven’t you taken this down and fixed it after so many folks have told you that the information it contains is incorrect? As someone with both PTSD and C-PTSD, you’re conflating PTSD with Acute Stress Disorder and suggesting that all those that have uncomplicated PTSD have C-PTSD, which is incorrect. C-PTSD and PTSD overlap a lot in symptoms and both sustain in duration. The difference is in what caused the traumatic stress, intensity of symptoms, and there are a couple symptoms that tend to indicate C-PTSD (but this is not always a given). For the most part, the symptoms you’ve described as C-PTSD are just PTSD. Very disappointed to see that you are knowingly spreading false information.
I was diagnosed as having C-PTSD last month. I already “knew” it, but it was a relief to get that validation. Trying to set up EMDR sessions to see if that will help, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel or be the person I once was. It’s wild how it can make you feel as if all or a majority of you has just disappeared or died. Feels like you’re trying to live with a stranger in a body that used to belong to your former self.
My old therapist diagnosed me with this and I find it sad because I haven’t told her anything about my actual life. I just talk a little about how I feel about everyday life being a never-ending loop of old horrible memories replaying themselves, mental and physical. how the days seem to drag on going nowhere but to the destruction of my own mind. It got to the point where everyone I have ever know broke my trust and now I’m trying to learn that I am not my trauma
I FINALLY got someone to listen to me and diagnose my PTSD. I’ve always known I had CPTSD but unfortunately it’s not “officially” a separate dx yet, so I just have a PTSD dx. I hate to use the word bullying because of the judgements around it being “normal”. I was severely physically abused and mentally tortured by my peers for 13 straight years of public school and either ignored or blamed by the adults tasked with caring for me. Unfortunately, avoiding my triggers means avoiding people, which has turned me into an agoraphobic mess because people are EVERYWHERE. Unfortunately extended isolation has made me realize that I’m actually an extrovert (or at least an ambivert) and having no social life was killing me. I’m trying to get better at going out, but it’s hard since there isn’t any real help for me. Anti anxiety meds are sedatives and even at the lowest dose, I immediately need to sleep. This makes it necessary to leave immediately and go home. I need help being able to manage an anxiety attack and STAY out. I can run away from anxiety on my own without meds.
I have been diagnosed with C-ptsd among other things… Can I say, along with dissociation comes memory loss ? Sometimes you know what happened but can’t really “remember” any of it. Dissociation is a mental mechanism to avoid anxiety. Memory loss is also a form of dissociation seen a quite a few cases a PTSD/C-PTSD . the memory of the traumatic event causes you so much anxiety and pain that your brain just decide to restrict access the these memories. They’re still there just not accessible right now.. I experienced a lot of that. The memory loss didn’t lower the symptoms of PTSD… In fact… I had extreme symptoms.. even 7years later I have High number of C-ptsd symptoms. Like flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, mood changes, panic attacks, dissociation and so on.
I’m so happy you used car accidents as an example. I’ve been told to just get over for years. It goes away but when you get told “oh I know what that’s like I got rear ended once” yes you had issues. I 100% understand you don’t mean to be insensitive. That day the fear of losing my mother, pets, life, and new home were horrible. Even after the accident, physical and mental issues follow me. Hell typing this im getting back pain. So that rear ending in a car you had, that you fixed in a quick trip to the mechanic is different. Not one is worse, but they are different and so I how everyone handles it. So thank you for doing car accidents and showing what can happen from it. It’s either brushed off or “oh I’ve done that I know what it’s like”
I have an official D.I.D. diagnosis, but I also have C-PTSD symptoms that co-exist with my other diagnoses. I think the worst episode I had ever experienced was the time it became a full blown hallucination. I’ve only had that happen twice, including this one, as often times their only audible rather than visual. I was back in the hospital, and having to do testing more recently for other things, it’s extremely hard. I need to do an MRI soon, and I know that I definitely won’t have a good time doing it, but I’m still making an effort to at least try and hype myself. Sometimes my episodes are so bad, it causes my body to just shut down. I can’t count how many times my family has had to catch me in public, and they always tell me it’s not my fault and yet I still apologize. I need to use a stick to walk sometimes, like a hiking stick. I’m only 18, and I know healing with me is going to be SLOW. But I hope I get better.
Ive been in a pretty traumatic and toxic “relationship” and I’m having trouble figuring stuff out. I’m only 12 and I dated this girl for a few months and she ruined me. I’m not even joking, she used to send me pictures of her arms after self-harming, would manipulate me, and so on. It may sound like some typical “kids being kids” stuff, but I’m actually so scared of her. She ruined my life. I’m still going to therapy and I frequently have emotional breakdowns, meltdowns, mental breakdowns, panic and anxiety attacks, flashbacks and now I can’t trust anyone out of fear of them turning out like she did. I’m going to therapy to sort this out and I’m pretty sure it’s getting confirmed I have PTSD, but I’m still not sure if I could say I have it. This article really helps making me feel more valid and understood. Edit: I should add I also avoid things that remind me of her. I stopped loving things I really used to love because of her. I seriously will never forgive or forget what she did.
No war experiences, no s3xual assaluts, not “heavy” bullying experiences, no car/flight/transportation accidents, always got food on the table, always worn confortable clothes, no death of loved ones. I have not suffered from the “classical” traumatic events most people with PTSD may have suffered, yet my sister and I, especially my sister, suffer from these symptoms for almost 10 years already. We have always been shy and anxious kids. Always scared of events that may be disruptive of our routine. We had (have) a too calm, yet anxious and absent dad who worked 12 hours a day, and an hysterical, anxious too and over controlling mom. Our most stressfull event it had to be our school years, from elementary to high school. We both went to the same school. Rules there were strict, and our mother did not let us take a breathe either. It was annoying to compare our life to other children to seemed to have more freedom than us. My mom’s obsession was school, homework and grades. That alone was stressful but let’s add the personality trait my sister and I always had and everythiing seemed to be worse. My sister experenced a burnout when she was 14. She was not diagnosed with it, but I am highly sure that’s what had happed to her, althought she was told she suffered from a psychotic ‘attack’ (one night she couldn’t fall asleep, her anxiety level were high high, and started to call my mom saying ”something’ was coming to attack her’, feeling an extreme pressure in the air). She could not go to school anymore, always suffered from nightmares, was always sleepy due to light sleep, was hyperaware.
I feel like my trauma is nothing. I mean, it is. But it doesn’t feel like nothing. First, my home wasn’t… great. My dad wasn’t very good, and long story short I started having a fear of being touched because of stuff my dad did. Then, I became an addict by the age of 11. It ruined me. I also got diagnosed to ADHD, and honestly, that also ruined me. Then, I went to this camp. I feel like this camp was nothing but… I did have a huge giant panic attack there, (2 hours long), I almost bleed to death there, I attempted suicide there and I was really declining there. I went back home, but… after that things weren’t the same. I couldn’t look at things that reminded me of it, such as sour patch kids, spaghetti, music that played there, etc, or else I would have a huge breakdown. That lasted for 9 months and I’m going back in 5 days. That camp should have been nothing. It is nothing. I don’t think it should even be specified as a ‘trauma’. Can past mental illnesses cause trauma? because whenever I think back to when I was an addict it makes me have flashbacks and drives me to insanity.
Avoiding busses and large crowds of people. Unfortunately, also can’t avoid these because life. Solution; Work through them as best as one can. What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger. Also not working; The continual fascination and childhood trauma of seeing Alien as a kid. A combination of extreme terror and yet utter fascination. Nightmares for a lifetime that still goes on, yet cannot look away.
I sadly can’t go to any therapists to see if I really have it because my parents refuse to do so and the last time mom ever got me into therapy she tried forcing me to say everything to her. Tho from what’s here I might have CPTSD I got a lot of childhood trauma with my mother, she mentally and physically abused me and also manipulated almost everyone in my family to do the same. I often get nervous when I get reminded that Im living in the same house as her and sometimes panic everytime i realise it’s almost time for her to get back from work. I get nervous and stressed when someone talks abt mom and sometimes I find myself on the verge of crying just thinking about her or seeing her. I recently started having nightmares but not normal ones, they always include trauma with my mother and a couple of times it expressed her anger and I just woke up almost having a panic attack
I live dissociated almost all the time, im there, but im not, im on autopilot. There are moments i “wake up”, all of a sudden im me, having a discussion, riding the bike, talking to someone and forget because i get overwhelmed that im present, alive again like i got out from the person that took my body, but it dissipates almost immediately. One time i was trying to feel alive, touching my significant other trying to be there, not like a dream or a memory. No matter what i do i am not here. I feel most negative emotions, i get ovewhelmed, i suffer from ptsd from family abuse and although i live alone, whenever i hear noises or someone shouting, im sent back to the abuse. I attempted suicide in 2019, i wanted to do it again later and am thinking of doing it now. I was better for a while, but now im depressed again. I need someone to tell me that they love me unconditionally and that they will be there for me, but i dont. I dont really love myself, although im much different from what i was. I cannot find peace.
Remember Flippy from Happy Tree Friends? Google says ge has PTSD however I think he has C-PTSD because his nightmares and flashbacks may have been happening for years. He may have in the beginning feel scared an start panicking but, he soon later disassociated because of these flashbacks which allows Fliqpy (Flippy’s alter ego) to take over.
I suffered from true PTSD a few years ago. With treatment and help I’ve over come most of the triggers I had. I’ve had recent traumatic experiences from a narcissistic relationship, and have been diagnosed with c-ptsd. Learning about it is good for me to know how I can move forward. Because the triggers are different and the initial reaction is different
i didn’t know what type of PTSD i had, until i watched this article! Thanks! I thought it was just uncomplicated PTSD because a lot of people explain it as ‘nothing was ever fine’ so i thought i didn’t have it. i got diagnosed with a medical condition when i was young and had to take many different types of medication, and it RUINED lots of my favourite foods, because i associated the food with the medicine. everyone told me i was just being weak, or that my mind was protecting me. i also had to take lots of IVs and injectable medicines. when i was still on the pills (i got off them a while back, i was so happy) it took me a while to eat them, but then i didn’t really think about it. i handled my needles with ease, even bragging about getting it done in under 2 minutes! then, just this year, i tried to inject myself, and i did it wrong, and ended up hurting myself. then, whenever i smelled rubbing alcohol, i started thinking of the pain of the needle, whenever i saw someone eating Nutella or smelled it, i thought and i swore i could taste my pills (they were in nutella for years as that was the only thing with the right consistency) and just a few months ago, someone told me to go see someone to get my handwriting fixed (as my body adapted my writing to something less painful, ie; an almost illegible scribble) and now whenever i look at my handwriting i try to correct it or think of that moment. i just thought i’d share.
This is the first time I ve been able to do this, I was bullied at school x my home life was chaotic. I used to escape by switching off to have a teacher asking me a question so I would quickly have to work out what wad going on first, it even affected my speech. 56 and still not quite climbed that mountain. Thank you all for sharing x making me realise I m not on my own ❤
I am not sure if I have C-PTSD because I haven’t seen a mental professional. However I can say I do relate to these signs. I have felt like this after years of toxic relationships (relatives, friendships and one romantic ex-partner) with narcissists who once I dumped them, they harassed me for years. Even though I make my best effort to stay strong and heal on my own, this has taken an inmense toll in me. Every now and then, I get a lot of crying and rage outbursts. I can go from rage to tears and viceversa in matter of minutes… I cannot trust easily, and even when I trust, I panic and I have to make an effort to shoo away the intrusive thoughts. Now it’s harder for me to make friends, and most of the time I prefer distancing myself from others. Can you believe that when I trust, sometimes I want to regret and take it back? It’s horrible…
Interesting… I always assumed this was how normal ptsd was, but it turns out this is a different version of it. I tend to create characters a lot, and I usually end up added some c-ptsd in there. Not really sure why, it’s just something I do I guess. Thanks for this, it’s good to know that this isn’t how all ptsd is, and that it’s a different type of one so I may be able to look more into this and do some research into this 🙂
Ah, yes. An old psych liked to describe trauma as two versions: Truama (big T) and trauma (little t). Trauma: a big singular event that can be easily linked to. A car accident, gunfight, injury, etc. trauma: long series of events that leave you with a general sense of unsafety. Long-term abuse, food insecurity, poverty, harassment, disease, etc. You can also mix and match. CW: mention of abuse follows. I knew someone in their last year of undergrad prepping for med school who got mono, had their phone and wallet stolen, and had an altercation while drunk at a party where a guy kept touching them inappropriately. Any of these could result in PTSD for a person. Given who this person was, i think they would have been fine if these events were spaced out. With it all happening in 6 months, though… they ended up with CPTSD for sure.
No 😑 Wrong! ! >> “PTSD” describes acute symptoms of trauma that do not extinguish over time. Literally “POST-Traumatic Stress Disorder”. It is a stress disorder in which the normal reactions to trauma do not continue to improve and diminish over time, intruding into everyday life. This article incorrectly equates acute occurrences of trauma itself as PTSD, and describes PTSD symptoms as the definition for C-PTSD (+mentions of multiple events vs. single event). The difference between traditional PTSD and CPTSD is the nature of the trauma itself. PTSD describes lasting and debilitating effects from a single, identifiable trauma . CPTSD describes the same lasting symptoms of disorder; intrusive re-experiencing and avoidance. Flashbacks may be more emotional or somatic in nature and sometimes difficult to attach to a single memory. The difference is that CPTSD is from many experiences over time. The trauma itself is COMPLEX in nature. There may also be more traditional, single-trauma events, but on the whole, the trauma can be described as resulting from a series of events. Relational trauma would be such a case that may potentially develop into CPTSD, including Child Developmental Trauma in cases where PTSD symptoms are present.
I guess i have CPTSD Cause when ever i unwillingly remember that horrible night and what it did to make my 7 year old self suicidal. This really cleared thing up thank now i know i have CPTSD and maybe my mom has it too? But i dont know she has more PTSD? Ya probably 😅😅 Forgot to add my past 7 year old self lol
This is why I don’t subscribe to this website. The car crash was a terrible example. Unresolved PTSD can last more than whatever small period you imply, and you can easily point to a single event that caused the car crash trauma unlike in CPTSD. Hence, “complex.” Take this article down and redo it if you care at all about the mental health community.
Something’s seem very similar to my issues. I was sexually abused by my cousin bunch of other traumatic experiences before adulthood but here recently had some relationship issues a rise and suddenly found myself at 42 yrs old seeing Big Bird yes the one from Sesame Street and started crying hysterically calling him my only true friend to this day I’ve never have felt like that in my 42 years on this earth could it be C-PTSD or inner traumatic child disorder so drained trying to figure this out hope to get therapy started very soon.
I think I have C-PTSD to an extent … I got out of an abusive relationship last year, after living with the person for 11 years. The abuse went on for 8+ years of the relationship. It was mental, emotional, and sexual abuse. Since I’ve been free I’ve had nightmares about my ex. I’ve done things like play a article game, make an online purchase, make plans to go out somewhere, or talk to a friend online, and could swear I heard my ex yelling at me about it. I live with my brother, and I heard him breathing heavily in the hallway out of breath, and the sound reminded me of my ex and I felt panic mode rising. Different sounds and phrases have triggered brief flashbacks or negative reactions. I yell “Don’t touch me!” and pull away from physical contact. I’m borderline sex repulsed. I flinch if someone reaches toward me too quickly. I freak out if someone is behind me or touches me from behind. I jump and even squeal at loud noises because my ex would make loud noises to scare me on purpose. And so many other things that are too much to list here.
You guys did NOT research this well, holy shit. Anyone can have a trauma response. PTSD is the failure to process the event and thus, even though it was a single event, it will NOT go away within a few days. Holy shit. The reason why CPTSD gets “felt” more is because the trauma tends to get baked into the person’s personality. Wow.
This is misinformation. CPTSD is caused by multiple traumatic events over a long period of time. A single car accident causing flashbacks and other PTSD symptoms is PTSD. A car accident that causes trauma symptoms that fade over a short period of time is a normal reaction to a traumatic event, and not PTSD. Going with the car accident example- If someone experiences multiple car accidents over a long period of time, they may develop CPTSD. I usually like Psych2Go’s articles but this one is all over the place. Yes, CPTSD causes emotional regulation, dissociation, and other issues to a greater degree than PTSD, but all of the symptoms in the article are symptoms of PTSD as well. The difference between PTSD and CPTSD does not have to do with the length of time the symptoms are experienced, but with the amount of traumatic events and severity of the symptoms. CPTSD is harder to treat than PTSD, but all of these signs are common to both conditions. Please do not share this misinformation. This article should be taken down. It is obvious that the creators profoundly misunderstood the differences between PTSD and CPTSD. This article is going to make a lot of people with PTSD think they have CPTSD when they do not.
I disagree with this article. PTSD is not when the symptoms are short lived, it’s, as said at the beginning of the article, when it stems from a single traumatic event. For example, a car accident. The example given in the article would be PTSD. PTSD can last your whole life. If it lasted a short period of time and it goes away, then it’s not a disorder, it’s the normal healing process. C-PTSD is, as said at the beginning of the article, when you were traumatised repeatedly over a long period of time. It changes you to the core and it’s often misdiagnosed as borderline because of how the symptoms present themselves. C-PTSD has all the symptoms of PTSD plus it’s own set of symptoms that develop overtime as the individual keeps getting traumatised over and over. A classic example is prolonged abuse of any kind. If you wanna use the car accident as an example, then C-PTSD would be the result of MANY car accidents.
I hate two things: -dishes. Doing them, and the sound of someone else doing them. My dad was very abusive and would yell at me and beat me if I didn’t do them right, or fast enough. -Touching myself, or washing/wiping. It’s not the feeling that I hate, it’s the smell. I don’t smell abnormal or anything, I was SA when I was 10, and I smelled myself a lot during it, (it happened in a tiny car) so now whenever I smell myself, I panic.
I didn’t even know this was a thing. I always joked about having trauma because I would tell myself, “There’s no way I have PTSD. It was just the loss of a loved one. It happens all the time.” After this, I considered the factors and how much of my life began to change after that. How much my family began to change. A few months ago, we lost three close family members in the span of about six weeks. Since then I’ve felt even more numb than before. Now my father is at medical risk but wants to prolong any surgery, and it’s been flooding back to me…I can’t lose another loved one so soon…
I was diagnosed with CPTSD almost two weeks ago, after years and years of blaming myself for still being depressed, and for “not trying hard enough” despite countless hours of therapy and treatment. I always felt like there was something deeper than just depression and anxiety. Many past therapists showed me pity and gave me tools on how to cope, but they never really gave me any validation toward why my depression was so severe and persistent. But finally, I have a therapist who knows what’s going on, and therefore gave me an answer. Things make much more sense. Now I know the source and hopefully can head toward the path of recovery.
Wow. I’m pretty sure I initially heard that background music on this article years back during the darkest times of my life. It was a soundscape here on YouTube that lasted hours, repeating the same series of slow and steady notes over and over. In the article, there was a picture of a girl reading a book on a bench outside in the rain. Her face was filled with a subtle dread. I’ll never forget it. I used to listen to it often while reading and it was really profound. Regardless, I’m curious where you found this particular song or if it was from the same article. That would be pretty wild..
What this article describes is acute stress disorder vs PTSD NOT c-PTSD C-PTSD is caused by multiple or prolonged trauma such as repeated abuse in childhood or being held as a prisoner of war PTSD is caused by one traumatic event such as a car crash or seeing someone die – if it lasts a month or so and goes away it is acute stress disorder not PTSD as this article says Both PTSD and C-PTSD tend to last years to a lifetime despite symptoms improving This article is not accurate
I’ve dealt with C-PTSD for over 40 years. It’s important to understand it’s a scar. You suffered traumatic injury to your psyche. You heal up, but that scar will always ache sometimes. It’s not your fault and it’s not a choice. If you experiance symptoms it’s not because you didn’t deal with it. It means your scars are hurting. Professional help can definitely aid and treat it. You will probably always have symptoms, but you can build a life that is fulfilling and content and holds that pain as what it is…only one part of your life and not the whole.
the phrase is: “it will be ok” honestly, I 100% have C-PTSD because of my ex fiance who was very abusive. I was stuck with him for almost three years, and I’m still recovering from the whole experience- a few friends of mine have allowed me to move in with them on the other side of the country so I can be as far away from my abuser as possible, and every now and again, something will trigger me to disassociate or have a mental breakdown, but I’m moving past it very slowly. Thankfully, I have a loving partner who has been caring and kind to me, and has been by my side for years, even before we have originally gotten together. If he wasn’t in my life, I would no longer be here on this earth because I wouldn’t even be where I am now, I wouldn’t have been able to escape from my traumatic environment I had called “home”.
My therapist didn’t say C-PTSD, but it reminded me of when I was at work. Someone said a guy was looking for me, and my friend said they saw a car that looked like my ex’s. I had a mental breakdown. I don’t remember crying in the corner in the main office. I felt paranoid. My job sent me home for the day.
i think i have mild cptsd, but non harmful, when i hear a loud fan at nighttime it makes me feel uncomfortable. yet also nostalgic at the same time for some reason? it’s odd lol, i think it’s reminding me of my nanas house which cause nostalgia, but her house is also old and difficult to sleep in. (especially cuz of the thousands of dogs) plus, i think it also reminds me of how silent and alone it felt at night
Yeah, and one thing people don’t really see or understand is emotional traumatic events. Like, I’ve been in a near death incident from a crash on snowy roads. Scares the shit out of me to get in a car. But when I was 14, I was forced to go to a group counseling thing in my church to cure me from my ‘sinful sexual thoughts’. I had to talk about very private things in public for four years until I was old enough to leave. Though not a single traumatic moment, that has led me to really struggle with anything sexual, and it has caused a lot of problem in my pursuit of a significant other. I feel constantly disgusted by myself, and I blame my parents and my church for that. So yeah, trauma doesn’t have to be from a single traumatic incident. It can be from completely destroying your sense of safety and security in any area, your home, your family, your friends. Destroying your sense of security causes trauma, even though to some it may seem like a stupid thing.
This isn’t true Ptsd is the same as cptsd but it is physcial flashbacks but cptsd has somatic n emotional flashbacks n extra symptoms Those who have a truama n it goes away have just pts post truamatic syndrome it can last day weeks months or years but if you heal it will it heal Ptsd is the disorder ehen you don’t process it or heal n it is for life but it can be healed over a long time Cptsd is due to multiple truamas n trapped truams it has many more symptoms than ptsd n is for life n is rarely fully ever healed
I feel like I have the worst CPTSD ever; I was adopted as a baby, but my adoptive parents had a terminally ill biological child. When she died (I was 3), my adoptive mother tried to stab me to death in my bed. Seven years later, when my adoptive dad was dying of cancer, she tried to kill me with neglect; I was denied medical care for appendicitis for a week (she insisted it was ‘just the flu’) and came within 24 hrs of a rupture and possibly dying. After my dad passed, the family on the whole disowned me (I was 11) and my “mother” was free to treat me like a house n-word until I graduated from HS. At that point, I was forced into homelessness despite being enrolled in college; my “mother” and stepfather literally forced me into the car, drove me to a neighbouring state, and abandoned me at the mall. I was 17. I won’t get into the decades of abuse (relationships, landlords, roommates, etc) that followed, but suffice it to say that I’m severely damaged from all of this. I currently have a manager, Becks T., who likes to trigger my PTSD and label my reaction as a ‘red flag’; I fully suspect that she does this to all BIPOC employees, because there are ONLY WHITE PEOPLE working at this store, and the only other brown person who worked there was bullied into quitting not long after I was hired. “DIversity and inclusion” at Joann’s my ass….
I have ADHD and suspected cptsd due to undiagnosed til 30 and previous sexual traumas. It’s hard to differentiate between the two, but for sure learning more about cptsd as noticing it more ♥️ and as anybody working through in it in therapy. Despite anything, I hope just like myself we learn to pull through our triggers, become our own safe space and hopefully find some form of home in others ♥️♥️. Thank you for this article, it’s validating and informative and a reminder of the reality of what happens x x
one tragic event happened to me that changed me forever. it’s almost been 10 years. i don’t frequently remember it every single time/every single day, but when i remember it naturally, or from triggers, it’s a sick and horrible feeling. i’m not necessarily trying to avoid the triggers, but it wouldn’t be nice to experience one. i have social anxiety now, and it’s because of that traumatic moment. what is this categorized as? one event – but prolonged affects that i can’t let down?
I don’t know if I have it but it’s pretty similar to what I’m experiencing… Right now I’m living in Ukraine and we all know what is going on here. We won’t be moving out. I’ve gotten used to it already but there is another thing that might be causing me cptsd if I have it. In the school where I studied for 8 years a new girl came and starts bullying me so I had to transfer and it’s really hard to adjust to the new school. I often feel overwhelmed by sadness and I really miss a teacher that I had there. I’m broken right now.. (I’ve read a few comments under the article and I really sympathise with each one of you. I hope it will be better for all of us even if it’s naive to think that)
Odd how I have similar symptoms, but can’t trace it back to a traumatic event. When I try, I find the easiest to recall for the traumatic event would have been last time I started to panic. Can someone have something like C-ptsd and have simply the previous attack be the trigger or trauma for the next one? I certainly don’t know.
I am 18 yrs old and I tend to have: ✨toughts like,, if you don’t touch that tree 5 times, your loved ones are going to die”. ✨ I get overwhelmed when I have to talk to adults.☺️ ✨I tend to forget what I was talking about when I get even a little stressed. ✨I can’t control my emotions when I habe to say how I feel even if it’s something good. I explode into crying the moment I open my mouth. And usually I prefer to stay quiet. ✨I’m always stressed that maybe the person who talks with me gets annoyed by me but tries to be nice and that’s why they say we are,, best friends” or,, they love me” bcs they pity me ✨I care too much about others, even strangers I don’t know but I’m scared that maybe they won’t want my help so I get freezed when someone needs help but I’m scared to do it. ❤I never understood why I am like this but I’m trying. My parents really affected me since I was rly rly young till now and they still are the same and I can’t get used with them even now bcs they have a way in which you can’t just ignore them bcs you are involved as well without doing anything wrong.
I got unofficially diagnosed with cptsd 4 years ago by a psychiatrist. The one thing I can say is, most people have unreasonable expectations for you to just “get over it” and move on. But some things stick with you. I’ve been sexually assaulted 4 times, and abused growing up. Like after I got sexually assaulted in the school bathroom by 2 other students when I was 14, I went to the school for help. Only thing I got was being blamed for it, and having rocks thrown at my head by the other students which progressively got worse because they only got a talking to by the school, and were mad that I reported them. It’s not like I could have turned to my family, either. Because if I wasn’t being slammed against walls by my dad or ignored by my mom, it would be something else. Shit like that sticks with you.
I was in relationship with a man Which I gave everything and from beginning to end always treated him so good, killed my self respect for him He treated me like no one ever did for 3 4 months and then.. He just took all of it all of the love and changed 2 years I took the abuse and always waited for him to change But slowly he kept going worse and worse From getting angry for the mistakes he did and the pain HE gave to me To not comforting me and ignoring my tears and pain To never being sorry for the abuse he did A weak and a half ago I was feeling this feeling of ”why things had to turn this way” I hugged him and asked him to stay like this in a hug for some time He said okay with no sense of sympathy or anything And asked in such a rude and painful way ” am I supposed to comfort you or something ” And that hit very painful and I started crying I told him can I ask a favor He say hmm I told him ” if you’re not willing to change and take responsibility for your actions, if you are not going to behave like you are in a relationship with me just break up with me if you don’t love me ” He started blaming me and saying You might have found a new man And flipping the question towards me But I didnT give up I kept asking and asking him the same While he kept hitting hitting me with painful things he kept saying about me Then in the end when he knew his topic changing won’t help He said ” if you’re begging for a break up so here you go I break up with you ” I loved him too much I knew I won’t be able to break up with him no matter what happened While I write this everything just gets reminded to me Of the things in writing in mind, We broke up before this and it took him 3 days to move on from me aT that time But I didn’t want it to end so I told him to give this relationship one chanCe and at that time he said he’s grateful for me taking the move to fix it And he’s grateful for all the times I’ve fixed it and from now He’s going to fix any break up (spoiler : he lied) He lost feelings a very long ago but didn’t wanted to accept that We broke up And he moved on without anything It took him 3 months or something to get over this old ex Of what 1 -2 years But he moved on in 1 day of our 3 year old relation He moved on and he always used to get angry whenever I used to tell my best friend while crying the things he used to do to abuse me And he always used to say You always tell your friends about me to make me the bad guy I get ptsd from anything romantic I can’t watch anime I can’t listen to songs I can’t watch movies I can’t do basic things in life Everything in life gives me ptsd And it gives me several pain in my chest whenever I get reminded of him or a memory relaTed to our relationship Please help
i really struggle to explain this kind of thing to people a lot of the time i can figure out a way to explain it to people but i always struggle more when explaining it to my gf when i cant figure out how to explain, ive started showing her your articles because you explain it so much better then i can and it gives me a second to breathe and think about what to say thank you so much for making these!
I suffer from ptsd.. and every day does get somewhat better, other days, ill cry.. and lose hope, like today, it was raining when i had a flashback.. i bawled my eyes out.. looks up said “im sorry..” and an unbelievable event occured.. the rain stopped and the sun came out, to anyone suffering, it really will be okay, if you don’t think so, i understand, but i Believe in you, keep your head up, please
This isn’t accurate as many has pointed out. It’s basically descibing PTSD not CPTSD. As someone with CPTSD I think this article should either remove the word Complex in it’s title or be deleted. False information doesn’t help at all. And the fact that people have been commenting this for 9 months now and no changes has been made to this article let’s me know that this website isn’t serious and their “information” can’t be trusted. Mistakes can be made, but when no effort it being done to correct those mistakes when you learn about them it’s a huge red flag.
i had a real hard time growing up and i lost my dad when i was 8, and it wasnt till i was 20 that it started to creep up and destroy me from the inside. now im scared of everything and i find any reason to stay home becuase sometimes just looking at a certain face can make me break into an emotional break down.
For myself it was a series of traumatic deaths, each alone was damaging but recoverable. I had depression and anxiety issues for many years but was “coping” The sudden passing of my remaining parent and only elder figure I had left changed things. Its like it linked everything together so each traumatic memory reinforced the others. Four years on and I can’t say if anything has changed in a positive way. A car accident would be easier to explain to people rather than a 30 year story summarised as, “everyone around me seems to die or leave” Such is life?
I do believe complex trauma comes from being abused over and over and over and over and over and over and over again for years and years and years by your abuser or your sexual abuser or your neglectful abuser. I think you’ve completely misconstrued what it actually means. Let’s take sexual abuse for instance if a child gets sexually abused once and they are protected after that and they are moved away from the perpetrator PTSD might be involved. Now let’s take sexual abuse for instance that goes on for 10:15 years day after day after day after day. That would be complex trauma
I grew up in Chicago, & was active in the gang madness from 1985-2014, & have seen more friends die than i could even count, had 3 attempts on my life & been shot 7 times, as week as stabbed, i served 17 years in prison, 7 of those in solitary confinement, so I’m pretty much “damage goods” at 49, & trying to reclaim, & fix my life since i been free in 2014, but it’s been a struggle, especially being a single father, but I’ve been taking psilocybin mushrooms over the last month & feel better than ALL THE YEARS of meds & therapy I’ve had over my life & had a breakthrough yesterday that made me feel so much better, it literally rewires your brain & does wonders for most crippling mental health disorders
i had a surgery on my knee when i was 17 and it all past i recovered and started playing football again, then i had similar knee injury only wasnt that serious that requires surgery, but when I suffer the same injury third time something broke my mind. Right now. I know that im healthy but even when Im walking I find myself thinking 5 steps ahead like on the corner if i miss a step or something like that my knee would crumble and i will be laying down in pain exactly like the injury(I literally visualizing the exact moment over and over again). multiple times a day it’s happening and now i cant go gym, i cant run, i cant do any sportive activity literally because of this. Eventually i put on lot of weight became inactive and kinda introvert that dont want do anything (i used to do all the time)
I am 55 yrs of age, and I learned that my ‘issues’ for most all of my life stem from C-PTSD. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder when I was 13, and then it changed to BiPolar Disorder in my late 20’s, and then about 9 yrs ago I had a suicide attempt and ended up in a facility on a 72hr hold, ultimately diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, and C-PTSD. They were suggesting to keep me longer but my youngest was graduating HS and I wanted to be there so I faked feeling better and told them everything they wanted to hear so they’d release me. I’ve gotten really good at knowing what to say to whom and when. I’ve become great at masking. I was a victim of my stepfather for over a decade, who was a child molester. It seemed to also promote the same thing from an uncle (his brother), and his army buddy. I’m sure my mother had to know something but never did a thing. I attempted suicide at 13 because a lady I babysat for seemed to pick up on something about me, asked me if I was being abused and if my mother knew, and that she’d give me a few days to tell on my own. Or she’d step in and tell for me. I was petrified, and relieved, elated, and scared, panicked…..and ready. Well, a day after that, I attempted suicide, was taken away to an emergency psychiatrist who asked the same question and my response put me in foster care. In an instant I no longer had a ‘family’. All my things, my record player, my stuffed animals, my favorite books, my clothes and shoes, my younger sisters, my pet rat, my school supplies, my life as I knew it was gone forever in just a moment of time. I moved around to different homes for various reasons until I was 18 and able to live on my own. I’ve never had a long term relationship, I used to brag that I could cut ANYone off and never look back (as if it were a noble trait), I never had authentic or long time friends, I really and truly can turn the switch off if I want to, and most times I turn it off before I sense someone will ultimately walk away anyway. I got pregnant and ditched, met someone else and got pregnant and ditched again, got date raped and pregnant again, and as a single mother raising 3 children alone and with severe mental health issues, seeing my ‘family’ carry on as if nothing happened, has been the hardest part of healing. I’ve always felt like I don’t belong anywhere, and I shield myself from relationships so I don’t have to explain my psychological traumas. When I meet someone and have a friend, it never lasts. I retreat and duck and bob and weave, just to keep from feeling too attached. I always say I’m just a lone wolf. Throughout the years I’ve been in intense therapies, I’ve taken an array of psychological meds, and worked as hard as I could to be somewhat functional in society, but even that is a stretch at times. This article popped up today, during a time that I’m in a dark place. I feel so misunderstood, 2 of my children are estranged from me, I’ve been having intense episodes of derealization, and just not quite as stable as I wish I could be, but I’m aware and conscious of my inner dialogues and my reactivity so I’m moving through it as best I can. I feel very lonely, and yet I don’t want relationships. It’s a strange state to be in for sure. Anyway, this article helps explain a lot that I need reassurance about these days. It came in perfect timing. Thank you to the synchronicities of life that are for a higher good. <3