Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD): PTSD’s Ninja Cousin

Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) is like the ninja cousin of PTSD. It sneaks up on people and hits them from multiple angles.  Unlike PTSD, which only has to hit a person with one significant event, CPTSD has multiple events that hit a person at once. For instance you could be hit with a car accident and then a death of a close family member all while enduring abuse at home. CPTSD can hit you from all angles!

Symptoms The CPTSD Ninja Hit You

Sure, you’ve got the usual suspects that people expect w/ PTSD – intrusive thoughts, nightmares, emotional rollercoasters, and avoiding anything that reminds you of the trauma.

Do you really need to go to your old neighborhood? Nah!

But wait, there's more! CPTSD isn’t just mental it can also bring a lovely buffet of bodily sensations such as racing heart, irritable bowels, and muscle tightness.  If that’s not enough for you though your brain can continue to need to be on alert because you’re not safe and since you’re not safe why not throw in a dash of self-deprecation because we can’t have you feeling good about yourself when all this shit has hit you.

What Creates The CPTSD Ninja?

CPTSD can come from several areas but the key is that these incidents either have to go on for a bit, they have to be repeated, or multiple incidents occur. The one that comes to mind for most people is abuse. This can be physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. It can also be neglect of a child’s basic needs, ie housing, food, clothed, etc. If you are a child witnessing domestic violence can also trigger CPTSD. It’s easy to see that these might occur at the same time. For instance would it be unheard of for a child to witness domestic violence and suffer physical abuse themselves?

 Other types of trauma that aren’t thought of right away can also be circumspect are people who have lived through war, either serving in the military or being a civilian in a war zone. Human trafficking, which has been spoken of more in the media these past few years, would also be an incident that could lead to CPTSD due to people typically taking a while to be able to escape. Speaking of escaping, another CPTSD creator could be being kidnapped or held against your will.

These examples are not the only types of trauma that can create CPTSD because there are so many traumas out there it’s hard to list them all. If you’ve experienced these it doesn’t mean that you automatically have CPTSD either. People are different and so while two people may go through the same incident one may come out with CPTSD and one may not. There are several factors that may impact this including but not limited to social supports, biological predispositions, and coping skills implemented.

How To Treat (and hopefully get rid of) CPTSD

There are many methods of treating CPTSD so it’s important to remember that not all of them may fit you.

Trauma Focused Therapy

The first, and one that I specialize in, is doing trauma-focused therapy. Therapy has been proven to help people processing past traumas. There are several different modalities that focus on trauma including Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and my personal favorite Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). I have been trained in all of them and while the first two provide good results I find that EMDR has faster results that last longer. However, the other therapies have great skills so I definitely use them as they fit a person’s needs.

Medication Support

Other things that may help are seeing a prescriber to see if you would do well with some medication support. Some meds that they may look at giving you are antidepressants, anxiety meds, or other various psychotropic meds if needed. Support groups can also be supportive due to them allowing you to connect with others. Hearing others who have gone through similar things can support you with feeling normalized in how you’re handling your trauma.

Self Care

Lastly, and possibly most difficult, is self-care. Self-care is often put on the backburner while trying to just survive. However taking time out of your day to do a meditation, a yoga routine, go for a run, etc. can support your mental health. Other things that may help are going out with friends, getting a massage, or taking time for a hobby you enjoy.   As you start caring for yourself you’ll start to notice and feel confident in beating the CPTSD ninja.

Getting Help For CPTSD

CPTSD can come from small abuses that add up, larger traumatic events hitting you for a long time, or a combination of these. CPTSD can affect how you see yourself, see others, your physical and emotional well-being, as well as your mental health. CPTSD is not a life sentence however. You can heal through taking care of yourself physically and mentally.

At 1st Degree of Change , we offer therapy that address trauma, anxiety and adhd, serving individuals with online therapy and telehealth available anywhere in Arizona, Florida and Massachusetts. 

To get started, or if you have questions about helping yourself or a loved one, call us  or schedule a free consultation today so we can talk about how things can change for the better.