PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, is a commonly known disorder. When thinking of PTSD, people often think of war veterans, or they think of survivors of a big trauma, such as a car crash or violent burglary. The reality is, PTSD can be caused by both big and small traumas. The disorder is not determined based on the actual traumatic event itself, but rather how the brain responds to the trauma. PTSD is marked by symptoms that include flashbacks, hypervigilance, avoidance of triggers, irritability or anger, nightmares, and unwanted thoughts.
Complex PTSD, or C-PTSD, is a lesser known diagnosis. Complex C-PTSD is the result of repeated experience of little, big, or both types of trauma. The diagnosis typically forms due to repeated traumas in childhood, and often the traumas are categorized as "betrayal traumas." Examples of some of the traumas a person could experience leading to this diagnosis include abuse (physical, sexual, emotional), neglect (physical, emotional), medical issues in childhood, witnessing domestic/neighborhood violence, being bullied, or having an underlying disorder that is not identified and/or treated (autism, ADHD, learning disability). The idea of the trauma being a "betrayal trauma" stems from the parental or trusted person involvement in the trauma - the parent/trusted person either being a perpetrator of the trauma, or neglecting to address the trauma.
The symptoms of C-PTSD include difficulty controlling emotions, self-esteem and identity issues, difficulty maintaining healthy relationships, dissociation in its many forms, and loss of meaning in life. If you read the previous post on dissociation, you may be starting to see a connection here. Often a person with C-PTSD is experiencing different forms of dissociation that lend to the symptoms above. The symptoms are often misdiagnosed, and unfortunately this may lead to a lack of appropriate treatment.
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