What is Complex PTSD & How Does It Develop?

[Kizzie]

Complex PTSD is a traumatic stress injury which may develop in childhood or adulthood.  It results from ongoing or repeated trauma of an interpersonal nature (e.g., emotional/sexual/physical abuse; neglect/abandonment; domestic violence, harassment) over which the child or adult has little or no control, and from which there is no real or perceived hope of escape. 

This accumulation of trauma distinguishes Complex PTSD from the better known Post Traumatic Stress Order (PTSD) in which trauma typically involves a single, impersonal event or a group of events of limited duration (e.g., witnessing a tragedy, being the victim of a car accident, short term military combat exposure). 

Despite being identified by Dr. Judith Herman in the 1990's in her book "Trauma and Recovery", CPTSD only became official in 2018 when it was approved by the World Health Organization for it's diagnostic manual the ICD-11.  As of 2023 CPTSD is still not in the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual (DSM).

We use the term "Complex Relational Trauma Response" (CRTR) interchangeably with CPTSD because although it is not an official diagnosis, it better reflects what we suffer from. That is, we are not disordered rather our symptoms are a response to abuse/neglect inflicted on us by others.Also, the word "relational" distinguishes our abuse from other types of complex trauma so it is clear we are survivors of interpersonal abuse/neglect.  Finally, the word "post' is left out because for many of us trauma is not in the past but continues in the present.   

Books - Click here

Research - Click here

Forms, Checklists & Information Handouts- Click here to download

Articles

• 7 Psychological Impacts of Surviving Childhood Trauma by Annie Wright, Aug 2018. (Added June 2019)
• How Did I Get Complex PTSD? by Pete Walker (Note: Scroll down)
• Complex PTSD: Response to Prolonged Trauma
• Impact of Complex Trauma {on Children} from the {US} National Child Traumatic Stress Network
• Complex Trauma - Dr. C. Courtois; http://giftfromwithin.org/html/cptsd-understanding-treatment.html
• "Judith Herman and the Formulation of C-PTSD":  http://traumainform.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/judith-herman-and-the-formulation-of-c-ptsd/.  (Includes a video of an interview with Judith Herman)
• Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - http://traumadissociation.com/complexptsd#complex-post-traumatic-stress-disorderTrauma

[Kizzie]

Here's a simple, straightforward presentation about Complex PTSD by Jorge Silva, a psychologist from Chile.