

People who suffer from C-PTSD may go for years before making the connection between their symptoms and the chronic stress and trauma they have been trying to cope with. With Complex PTSD, healing cannot happen on its own because the survivor keeps reliving the trauma through flashbacks and dreams.

Victims of C-PTSD may also have physical symptoms, such as: Flashbacks, memory repression, dissociation.Shame, guilt, focusing on wanting revenge.Loss of faith in humanity, distrust, isolation, inability to form close personal relationships.Perfectionism, blaming others instead of dealing with a situation, selective memory.Low self-esteem, panic attacks, self-loathing.

Depression, denial, fear of abandonment, thoughts of suicide, anger issues.Rage displayed through violence, destruction of property, or theft.People who have gone through a long-standing, extremely traumatic situation may exhibit both physical and emotional symptoms related to their ordeal. A child who has lived with years of sexual or physical abuse may have symptoms of C-PTSD in addition to PTSD.A child witnessing the death of a friend in an accident may show some symptoms of PTSD.Here is an easy way to see the differences between the two conditions: Therefore, some mental health professionals now believe there should be a new category added to the PTSD diagnosis – one that will encompass this emotional scarring from long-term, chronic trauma: Complex PTSD (C-PTSD).Įven with this new classification, it is important to note that the victims of chronic trauma can have both PTSD and Complex PTSD simultaneously. In cases like these, a PTSD diagnosis partly addresses their condition, but doesn’t adequately define the severe psychological harm that has resulted from the trauma. Recently, mental health experts have begun to realize there are more layers to the emotional suffering experienced by people who have been through long-lasting stressors like childhood sexual abuse, for example, or years of domestic violence. But, what about those who have gone through long-term exposure to a continuing, intense level of stress? PTSD can occur after experiencing even just one threatening situation, such as being involved in a car accident. It is often associated with members of the military who have witnessed the horrors of battle, or with people who have endured an extreme physical or emotional trauma. The majority of us have heard about PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), the condition that can occur when someone is exposed to a situation over which they had little or no control and from which there was little or no hope of escape.
