complex ptsd

[Mummiehunnie]

Has anyone been diagnosed with this or known someone who has?

Hi Mummiehunnie. It's been suggested that I have this.

book case by who? what symptoms do you have, do you mind discussing what the cause was it if it ok for you? have you had any treatment?

My cpn has suggested it, after many other diagnoses.
I grew up in an environment where I was constantly in fear of actual and threatened violence as well as other types of abuse which are more difficult to access in my mind at the moment. I experience dissociation mostly and, after reading some links on the stately homes thread, understand that I have frequent emotional flashbacks too.

My cpn has referred me for EMDR therapy which I believe is a method which attempts to retrieve difficult memories in a deeply relaxed state of mind.

I have it

I think I might have this.

And me. I was diagnosed with PTSD some years back. I now fit the profile of CPTSD pretty well. I asked my psychologist about it a few months ago; she told me that my treatment was appropriate for CPTSD but she doesn't recognise the diagnosis - it's not a formally-defined condition afaik, though she didn't say it doesn't exist (or that I haven't got it).

Not much help, I'm afraid

Apparently it's recognised in some parts of the country as an alternative diagnosis to borderline pd.

there was a mention in winkipedia re bpd, mostly it seems unrelated from my research... I wonder if I have it from abuse from the ex, with his lies to family court and all that entailed... will see... I am just glad he is not in touch with me and the kids anymore now, I had so wanted him in their lives, not anymore.

I just wanted to add, I am sorry that you have all been through what you have been through, I hope that life is calmer now for you and that you have peace from the pain xxx

Hello there, I'm a newbie and mostly lurker on Mumsnet, but have been amazed at the vast amount of information and support gathered here.

I am very interested in PTSD of any kind as I believe I have it and a therapist I had for a year agreed it was possible. At the time though I was trying very hard to change destructive behaviours to stop me hurting my family, through Transactional Analysis. At the time I thought it was more important to focus on the future as I thought I had my ducks in a row re the past.

I have recently come to the conclusion, due to a traumatic event that ended very messily in a physical altercation while drunk, that until I do attempt closure for the main cause of my extreme behaviours, I will be stuck with them.

So back to therapy I go.

As far as I can make out, my unstable childhood bears some of the blame, and then a very specific and traumatic event when my DS was born, that was ongoing for three years, and ended with me in a position of blame which I will never accept compounded any personality problems I had, but was confident enough to deal with. The traumatic event robbed me of the ability to make decisions with confidence, trust a world that I had trusted pretty much up to then, and also left me feeling like two people - the one who copes reasonably on the surface most days, and the one who hates themselves and sometimes lashes out.

I think if you can identify a specific event that needs closure that may be an important part of recovery - the weekend has spurred me to challenge the people involved in my trauma, regardless of the fear I feel, because the humiliation of what happened this weekend (I'm 41 and it was totally Jeremy Kyle - am so mortified)made me realise that I can't take the risk that I'll still be behaving like that at 60 or even 80!

I've even started a blog to help me keep track, but don't feel confident enough to make it very public quite yet - I haven't managed to get enough background up for people to get a good picture of my issues.

But anyway, I hope anyone here suffering can get the support they need - trying to look as though one is in control when one feels totally out of control is a horrible horrible feeling. ((Hug))

What is complex PTSD compared to PTSD?

www.pete-walker.com/index.htm

This site is on one of the dysfunctional family threads, and I found it really helpful.

I played spot the behaviour for hours!

I'm hoping this guy will let me put his site on my Blog, but am waiting for his permission because some people don't want to be associated with issues like mine. Which is fine, truly.

And I highly recommend the FAQs :)

fairymist, the difference between the two is that complex PTSD is cause by repeated trauma over a prolonged period of time. PTSD is caused by a single traumatic event eg: sept 11.

fairy, I also think from what I have read ptsd is more about near death of yourself and witnessing death, and is quicker and easier to recover from, where as complex is more long term abuse trauma, there seems to be a query as to if it is accepted as a term or not, I also saw some other term such as extreme traumatic stress!

cptsd would apply to someone like Nelson Mandella, he was imprisoned for years, that type of thing!

What about people who have been in abusive relationships?

An abusive relationship could lead to cptsd faiymist.

"During long-term traumas, the victim is generally held in a state of captivity. In these situations, the victim is under the control of the perpetrator and unable to flee."
anxiety.emedtv.com/complex-ptsd/complex-ptsd.html

bookcase that link does not work for some reason :(

In my case it was not when living with the domestic abuse, it was more the aftermath being trapped in family court with his lies, it was all high status regarding the children, I was also in shock he would make up the lies and not want them and want to hurt them to get at me, he blames me for every thing that has gone wrong in his life!

another example of cptsd, would be someone from a nazi concentration camp...

Oh sorry mh, I didn't put the brackets around it.
anxiety.emedtv.com/complex-ptsd/complex-ptsd.html

Do people suffering from it tend to dissociate?

Some degree of dissociation is a symptom.

Hello again, I just wanted to say thank you for the other link BookcaseFullofBooks, and also that I'm sorry if I blundered in here a bit and haven't observed proper etiquette at all - sorry, that sounds so pretentious but what I mean is I'm in a bit of a manic situation and when I see things that seem to be relevant, I jump in with both feet.

That other link really breaks it all down very well.

Ironically, the mention of the Family Courts resonates very highly. Definitely a situation where one feels held captive for a long period of time. :(