COMPLEX PTSD as listed in DSM-V

[ADodge]

This is a new classification of PTSD under the DSM-V (Well as new as May 2013) There is not any ONE stressor per say when it comes to Complex PTSD. As you can see when you read below.  Previous to this Diagnosis being added to the DSM-V it was very hard to Diagnoses straight PTSD especially when it came to individual from certain lifestyles.  Such as those in the military, woman who have lived for years in abusive relationships, Children who grow up in extremely violent homes or children from the foster care system who are abused as children and then re-experience a traumatic event or events as adults too.   So there never has to be just one stressor.  We should all remember this when dealing with PTSD!    

So I thought I would post this bit of information regarding complex PTSD because maybe someone is a little confused as to what type of PTSD they have been diagnosed with or if in fact they have been given a definitive diagnosis of PTSD!!!   Anyway I hope this info helps someone out there!!!

Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) -  is a condition that results from chronic or long-term exposure to emotional trauma over which a victim has little or no control and from which there is little or no hope of escape, such as in cases of:

domestic emotional, physical or sexual abuse

childhood emotional, physical or sexual abuse

entrapment or kidnapping.

slavery or enforced labor.

long term imprisonment and torture

repeated violations of personal boundaries.

long-term objectification.

exposure to gaslighting & false accusations

long-term exposure to inconsistent, push-pull,splitting or alternating raging & hooveringbehaviors.

long-term taking care of mentally ill or chronically sick family members.

long term exposure to crisis conditions.

When people have been trapped in a situation over which they had little or no control at the beginning, middle or end, they can carry an intense sense of dread even after that situation is removed. This is because they know how bad things can possibly be. And they know that it could possibly happen again. And they know that if it ever does happen again, it might be worse than before.

The degree of C-PTSD trauma cannot be defined purely in terms of the trauma that a person has experienced. It is important to understand that each person is different and has a different tolerance level to trauma. Therefore, what one person may be able to shake off, another person may not. Therefore more or less exposure to trauma does not necessarily make the C-PTSD any more or less severe.

C-PTSD sufferers may "stuff" or suppress their emotional reaction to traumatic events without resolution either because they believe each event by itself doesn't seem like such a big deal or because they see no satisfactory resolution opportunity available to them. This suppression of "emotional baggage" can continue for a long time either until a "last straw" event occurs, or a safer emotional environment emerges and the damn begins to break.

The "Complex" in Complex Post Traumatic Disorder describes how one layer after another of trauma can interact with one another. Sometimes, it is mistakenly assumed that the most recent traumatic event in a person's life is the one that brought them to their knees. However, just addressing that single most-recent event may possibly be an invalidating experience for the C-PTSD sufferer. Therefore, it is important to recognize that those who suffer from C-PTSD may be experiencing feelings from all their traumatic exposure, even as they try to address the most recent traumatic event.

This is what differentiates C-PTSD from the classic PTSD diagnosis - which typically describes an emotional response to a single or to a discrete number of traumatic events.

This info is from Out of the Fog web site