Complex post traumatic stress disorder - has anyone any experience?

[shatteredandtired]

Mental health team diagnosed this earlier; told me it’s complex PTSD because I’ve had repeated assaults and problems . Abuse and neglect in early childhood and then sexual assault in my teens and again in my twenties, as well as chronic illness and some other stuff.

Mental health worker wants me to be referred for long term support with a trauma informed therapist, but said I’m likely to need some sort of mental health support over a very long period of time ie years not months and would want me to be allocated eg mental health nursing etc .

I’m totally overwhelmed, I know I have significant anxiety and agoraphobia but had a horrendous episode over the weekend that has left me shaken; something triggered me last week and I’ve taken days to recover, which has led to this today . I was given diazepam last week to get 24 hours of space from it all .

MH worker said several times I’ve done nothing wrong, I’m responding exactly as they’d expect and not to panic but I’m totally overwhelmed and just want to cry .

Feeling very vulnerable if that makes sense and just want to hide under the bedcovers !!

Just wondering if anyone else has any experience what likely happens with treatment and stuff? They said combination of talking therapies and medications (which I’m on) , is that fairly typical? Do they make you revisit the horrible things again and again?

OP, my heart goes out to you. I've got multiple traumas too but am not as badly affected as you, though I've had darker times.

Any talking therapy will take things at your pace. And be very very supportive and empathetic to your ordeals. Talking really does help, as much as it might feel like a trauma in itself right now. It will be a relief, trust me.

Take whatever help you can get. Meds, therapy, everything you are offered. You will get better, really you will, although to some extent you have to learn to live with it, but you'll learn how to do that, how to cope and how to put it in the past.

Best of luck to you. Its incredibly brave to seek help. Well done you.

I have the same diagnosis fir the same reasons op. It's a hard slog but with the right support you'll get there

Hi OP, good trauma-informed therapy should never push you to places that feel too threatening to go to. Most approaches work to help you safely self-regulate your emotions as c-ptsd can manifest as experiencing everything as dangerous - and that’s exhausting and debilitating.

A couple of terrific books: ‘8 Keys to Safe Trauma Recovery’ by Babette Rothschild and ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ Besel Van-der-Kolk.

Thank you - I’m struggling to talk about it all at the moment and there’s some stuff I have only ever talked to one person about, and even then not in detail .

Yes everything being dangerous makes sense . I spend my entire day worried I’m imminently going to die and that no one really loves me, they just feel sorry for me . The one friend I’m very close to I feel I’m a burden to her because I message her multiple times a week .

I can type it, I can write it; I can’t say it without difficulty and nightmares and stuff.

I like my therapist at the moment, I’m terrified of her going away and having to start all over again with someone new, I desperately don’t want that .