Complex PTSD

PSTD vs. Complex PTSD

Complex PTSD

When a person has been protractedly exposed interpersonal and/or social trauma that is accompanied by disempowerment, entrapment or captivity wherein the said person is without an escape route, or control loss, such individual could get an injury that is psychological in nature. Such disorder is called complex PTSD or complex post-traumatic stress disorder. However, the same is not recognized formally as part of diagnostic systems although there have been a lot of published papers about it in mainstream journals. C-PTSD is concerned with reciprocal and complex reciprocal interactions between bio-psychosocial systems that are multiple in number. This particular psychological condition has both similarities and distinctions with PSTD or Posttraumatic stress disorder. To know more about the difference between the two, read the information provided below.

Complex PTSD describes chronic repetitive trauma’s persistent negative impact better than PSTD. The descriptions of the latter fail to really capture complex PTSD’s core characteristics. Some of said characteristics include loss of rational sense of one’s self, tendencies to be victimized again, self-worth, trust, loss or lack of sense of safety, psychological fragmentation, and captivity. The first characteristic mentioned plus the symptom profile that ensues is what really distinguishes Complex PTSD from PTSD. More so, what basically characterizes complex PSTD is the pervasive insecure nature of the patient involved. This includes attachment that is of an disorganized type. This particular insecure attachment is not found in PTSD or in any other DSM-IV disorders that are dissociative.

With this, those individuals with complex PTSD who become parents later on have difficulties and hardships when dealing with the attachments needs of their own children especially when the latter are still infants or at their young age. This kind of difficulty could have adverse effects on the emotional and social development of the children, especially if such inadequate and inappropriate treatment from their parents continues.