How Does Ptsd Or Complex Ptsd Affect Your Everyday Life
Sophie: I cant drive. I did so much work with a psychologist to help me with my fears surrounding traffic, being in a car, even being a pedestrian. It was so helpful, but the one fear I cannot face is being able to drive. Personally, I dont feel that its such a big deal. Ive had to make some changes, such as living near public transport, which is easily done.
I also live within walking distance of so many things, such as grocery stores and my psychologist. I just cant drive. I never got my P plates, so I dont feel Im missing out. I sometimes feel its others that are more affected, or shocked, by me not driving. Sure, maybe I cant just get in my car and go for a drive somewhere. But I live near the beach, and can go for a walk to the beach.
Jess: Complex PTSD affects every element of my life. I struggle to trust people. And my emotional outbursts often frighten and confuse the people I love. The kind of flashbacks I experience arent always visual. My Art Therapist calls them embodied re-experiencing. This means that if something comes up which reminds me of my trauma it is like I am literally that child again, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.
I also dissociate a lot to escape from these strong feelings, often feeling like my body is not my own. I have nightmares all the time and I avoid people and places that remind me of my trauma: I dont even go to the part of Melbourne where I grew up.
How Therapy Can Help You Cope With Complex Ptsd
Therapy for complex PTSD usually happens in three phases:
- Trauma processing
In the first phase, the therapist prepares the patient for processing painful memories by discussing what the patient can expect to experience and what the possible outcomes will be. This phase is crucial because it helps the patient prepare for what may be an uncomfortable experience. The preparation phase removes as much surprise from the process as possible in order to make the patient feel ready to handle the upcoming challenge.
The second phase is often the most emotionally taxing as it requires the patient to process the trauma that he or she experienced. For some patients, this may mean talking through the traumatic events, describing them in as much detail as possible, and using self-soothing techniques to gain control of any emotions or sensations that occur. However, some research has shown that describing traumatic memories is not necessary for a patient to recover, particularly for female survivors of sexual assault or long-term abuse. Rather, in these cases, the patient and therapist will process the trauma by talking about the emotions and thoughts that arise rather than any physical sensations or concrete memories.
How Did You Receive A Diagnosis Of Ptsd Or Complex Ptsd
Sophie: I was in a major car accident when I was younger. It was after that I received a diagnosis of PTSD. I was having nightmares about the accident, or being in another accident. I had a panic attack straight after the accident, and I kept having panic attacks whenever I heard cars slam on their brakes or beep their horn.
A few weeks or so after the accident, I was walking down the street, and heard a car crash into another car behind me. I had a panic attack from hearing that noise. Nearly two years after the accident, I had surgery on an injury I sustained from the accident. When the surgery wasnt successful, the panic attacks started again.
Jess: I had started seeing a new therapist for a flare up in my eating disorder symptoms. We were discussing how this was likely from unresolved and unrelenting trauma. As I began to trust her more, I opened up more and more about my experiences. One day, she brought up complex PTSD quite casually, without making it sound scary.
I had never heard of complex PTSD in my life before. She told me about some of her other clients who had this diagnosis, and asked whether I related to these stories. We delved a little deeper and I then knew that my collection of symptoms had a name. I suddenly felt like I made sense and felt less alone too.
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Is Ptsd Or Complex Ptsd A Big Part Of Your Identity How You See Yourself Or How Others See You
Sophie: I feel like so many people see not being able to drive as a big deal. I have radically accepted that Im never going to drive, and Im ok with that. I have adapted my life to living in places where I dont need to drive. I have been ok with traveling for work. Ive made it this far without needing to drive, Im sure I can make it through the rest of my life without needing to drive.
I just want others to accept that Im ok with this, and for them to be ok with it too. This will make it a lot easier for me.
Jess: I identify as disabled because my complex PTSD symptoms make it very difficult to navigate the world as it is currently designed. I actually benefited from the pandemic because suddenly so many of my access barriers were removed.
For instance, most of the time I cant go out by myself, especially after a really bad nightmare. Because if someone gets in my personal space on the street I may react as though they mean me harm. Social distancing made leaving the house on my own suddenly accessible for me.
I experience the world so differently to non-disabled people. Every time I leave the house has to be thought out and I lack the privilege of spontaneity in my life. Through NDIS supports I have started building independence. I am starting to shift my identity from someone who has complex PTSD to someone experiencing post-traumatic growth.
Here Are 12 Things To Know About Cptsd And How You May Recognize It In Yourself:
- Im so stupid
- Its all my fault
- Im no good at anything
- I cant stand to be with myself
- No one cares what I have to say.
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Remind Them About How Their Nervous System Works
Its power to color experience is awesome. We have all had it happen we are having a high stress day and our ability to cope plummets. Even minor setbacks feel life threatening.
Our early relationships with our parents largely shape our autonomic nervous system. So if your loved one grew up in what I call a high threat home they will be in the habit of responding as if everything is a threat. In essence, they are living with constant emotional memory flashbacks. The exact opposite can happen too, and we can become adept at dissociation, disconnection and emotional numbing.
The threat brain works by convincing us there really is an emergency. After all, if it werent so compelling, our survival brain wouldnt be doing its job well. It can be helpful to remind yourself and your loved one that the problem isnt the specific situation- its the habitual triggered reaction.
How Medication Can Support Those With Complex Ptsd
In some cases of complex PTSD, medication may be prescribed. The most common medications used to treat complex PTSD patients are anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications. In some severe cases, however, antipsychotics may be prescribed to complex PTSD patients with and without psychosis. Preliminary research has shown that antipsychotics may help with symptoms. These symptoms may include:
- Disorganized behavior
- Violent behavior
Medications can be helpful in managing symptoms, but alone cannot cure complex PTSD. It is important for patients to also undergo therapy if medications are prescribed.
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What Exactly Is Ptsd Anyway
First, the basics. PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder. It occurs in people whove experienced or witnessed a traumatic event.
Sometimes, that event is big and obvious: combat, a life-threatening accident or sexual assault. Other times, it develops after a series of smaller, less obvious, stressful events like repeated bullying or an unstable childhood.
Chronic PTSD can result from multiple adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, which can include unstable adult relationships, food insecurity, childhood abuse, effects of racism, recurrent micro-aggressions and more.
These recurrent childhood stressors can impact brain and overall development leading into adulthood. When a child is exposed to stressors early in life, unhealthy patterns often develop and brain function may change due to internalization of trauma.
Discuss The Triggers And Work Together
Being intentional and proactive about a recovery plan can help you to avoid retraumatization and to create a safe recovery environment where someone with complex PTSD feels personally supported. At a time when they feel ready and open to talking, ask your child to share with you the triggers they have been encountering of late and what has or has not been helpful for them to feel safe and secure. They may struggle to talk about the triggers as the associations can be immediately painful, and there may be certain things they dont want to discuss at all. Let them know that its okay for them to take their time and share as they become ready.
Consider this a process of building trust within yourselves, between the two of you, and within the everyday environment where recovery is taking place. This conversation about triggers and compassionate support will be an ongoing one as circumstances can change and youll want your awareness to constantly expand and evolve with your adult childs experiences.
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Remind Your Loved One: People Recover
Encourage them to find the right therapist.That is something that takes some effort. In order to recover from complex ptsd, its vital that your loved one receive competent trauma informed care. While therapists regularly encounter the survivors of trauma, most do not have much training in treating trauma.
Trauma treatment is a specialty that requires advanced clinical training. Having provided clinical supervision to Bay Area Therapists for over 15 years, I am completely unaware of any graduate school that provides even the most bare amount of trauma treatment training.
Its vital that your loved one with C-PTSD is in treatment with a trauma therapist who:
- Provides education to the patient about the nervous system and its role in developing trauma symptoms.
- Teaches emotional regulation skills
What Types Of Trauma Are Proposed To Increase The Likelihood Of Complex Ptsd
Originally, proponents of complex PTSD focused on childhood trauma, especially childhood sexual trauma. However, there is abundant evidence suggesting that duration of traumatic exposureâeven if such exposure occurs entirely during adulthood as with refugees or people trapped in a long-term domestic violence situationâis most strongly linked to the concept of complex PTSD. During long-term traumas, the victim is generally held in a protracted state of captivity, physically or emotionally, according to Dr. Herman . In these situations, the victim is under the control of the perpetrator and unable to get away from the danger. Examples of such traumatic situations include: concentration camps, Prisoner of War camps, prostitution brothels, long-term domestic violence, long-term child physical abuse, long-term child sexual abuse, and organized child exploitation rings.
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How To Live With Complex Ptsd
Youre probably somewhat familiar with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder , as its often depicted in movies and television as a condition that affects war veterans and trauma survivors of mental or physical abuse, violence, natural disasters, and death. However, living with Complex PTSD is a different diagnosis and experience. C-PTSD is more specific to severe, repetitive trauma that typically happens in childhood.
Just based on acronyms alone, it may seem like PTSD and C-PTSD are similar, as they both have origins in trauma, and can involve disturbing behavior like flashbacks, nightmares, and insomnia. However, living with Complex-PTSD is dramatically different in how it manifests itself by actually reshaping a persons entire perspective.
Lets get into what each of these disorders is and how trauma focused therapy and a therapist matching service can help.
Is Complex Ptsd A Separate Condition
ICD-11 complex PTSD as a separate condition, though the DSM-5 currently does not. Some mental health professionals are beginning to distinguish between the two conditions, despite the lack of guidance from the DSM-5.
Research has also supported the validity of a separate diagnosis of complex PTSD. At least 29 studies from more than 15 countries have consistently shown the differences in symptoms between traditional PTSD and its complex variation.
One 2016 study that included more than 1,700 participating mental health professionals from 76 countries showed that clinicians could differentiate between the two diagnoses.
A person with complex PTSD may experience symptoms in addition to those that characterize PTSD.
Common symptoms of PTSD and complex PTSD include:
- avoiding situations that remind a person of the trauma
- dizziness or nausea when remembering the trauma
- hyperarousal, which means being in a continual state of high alert
- the belief that the world is a dangerous place
- a loss of trust in the self or others
- report complete amnesia of the trauma.
- Preoccupation with an abuser: It is not uncommon to fixate on the abuser, the relationship with the abuser, or getting revenge for the abuse.
Symptoms of complex PTSD can vary, and they may change over time. People with the condition may also experience symptoms other than the above.
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The Problem Of Shame In The Forming Of Intimate Relationships
Shame is a fundamental emotion that shapes our lives from the time we are born until our death. When used in a positive manner, shame can help children learn to control their emotions and treat others with respect and dignity.
However, when shame is used as a weapon to control and harm children, the effects are lifelong and cause great difficulties later in life in the formation of healthy intimate relationships.
A paper published in 2010 in the Journal of Traumatic Stress1 titled The Impact of Dissociation, Shame, and Guilt on Interpersonal Relationships in Chronically Traumatized Individuals: A Pilot Study offers some insights into how shame shapes our relationship formation later in life.
The researchers found that the accumulation of shame throughout a persons lifetime is a predictor of intimate relationship difficulties. Not only this but when coupled with severe dissociative symptoms, survivors can feel an intense sense of disconnectedness to other people.
With such internal conflicts happening inside the minds of survivors of complex trauma, it is almost impossible to form and maintain intimate relationships.
Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Complex PTSD or C-PTSD is a specific form of PTSD. If a patient continues to suffer repeated traumas after the initial traumatic experience, one trauma compounds another, and the person may develop Complex PTSD. A person battling this illness can also suffer from many other conditions including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, and many sufferers of Complex PTSD have also been subject to childhood abuse or sexual abuse.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on Mental Disorders, 5th Edition is a book commonly used by psychiatrists and psychologists, published by the American Psychiatric Association. Complex PTSD has not been designated as a separate disease in the DSM yet, but there are diagnostic criteria that recognize its unique impacts on individuals.
C-PTSD overlaps with PTSD and shares many of the same diagnostic criteria, and for this reason diagnosing Complex PTSD can be difficult. People may not attribute their negative self concept to the traumatic events they experienced. They may not recognize how their experiences as children can create negative thought patterns and influence their behavioral health later on in life. C-PTSD is also not a separate diagnosis from PTSD, meaning that it can be difficult to differentiate one from another for clinicians.
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A Day With: Complex Ptsd
Jody Allard
My life is woven together by threads of trauma. None are explosive enough to solely cause post-traumatic stress disorder . But its the impact of dozens of smaller traumas combined that landed me in a psychologists office with a complex PTSD diagnosis.
That was five years ago. Back when the stress of a turbulent divorce and serious health problems left me incapable of using my normal coping skills. I couldnt work harder or achieve more to prove my worth because I was too sick to work at all. I went to therapy to fix my problems and get over childhood pain, but instead, it unleashed a monster that swallowed me whole. For six months, CPTSD left me curled up on the bathroom floor, shaking and sobbing, reliving my past traumas. There was no past or present, just the cold hard bathroom tile, feeling incapable of stopping the tsunami of memories and sensations.
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