Results of the Polls Regarding Changing the Wording of CPTSD

[Kizzie]

Poll #1 – To Change or Not to Change the Wording of CPTSD (20 votes in total) - Leave as is: 5 (25%); Change some/all words: 12 (60%); ; Uncertain: 3 (15%)

Poll #2 – The word Complex (13 votes in total) - Leave: 3 (23.1%); Change to Cumulative: 6 (46.2%); Change to Multiple: 1 (7.7%); Uncertain: 3 (23.1%)

Poll #3 - The word Post (12 votes in total) - Leave: 4 (33.3%); Remove: 8 (66.7%); Suggestion: 0; Uncertain: 0 

Poll #4 - Re: The word Traumatic (13 votes in total) - Keep: 8 (61.5%) ;  Use Psychological Trauma: 2 (15.4%); Use Psychotraumatic: 1 (7.7%); Suggestion: 2 (15.4%); Uncertain: 0

Poll #5 - The Word Stress (12 votes in total) - Keep: 6 (50%); Remove: 2 (16.7%); Suggestion: 0; Uncertain: 1; It depends: 3 (25%)

Poll #6 - The word Disorder (15 votes in total) - Keep: 4 (26.7%); Remove: 0; Use injury: 6 (40%); Use syndrome: 4 (26.7%); Uncertain: 1 (6.7%)

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Based on the results of the polls changes to the wording of the current diagnosis does seem to be desirable, and the most popular wording is:

Cumulative Traumatic Stress Injury

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Thank you to everyone who participated, I know I got a lot out of it     Now I suppose we should consider what are the next steps if any.  I thought perhaps we could use this thread now to discuss what if anything we might do with this info.  Do we contact trauma oriented organizations/researchers/clinicians with our thoughts on the wording?  Do we develop a commentary about it for any professionals who may visit here? Do we just keep it in-house as a discussion that has deepened/broadened our understanding of our symptoms? Other? 

(Note: I will be away from the forum for about 2-3 weeks starting Dec 4th so will not be commenting during that period.  Just so you know I have not abandoned the thread  .)   

[Three Roses]

So now we all have CTSI 

[sanmagic7]

wow - it's been c-ptsd for so long, and now ctsi.  i like it, but it will take a while to wrap my head around it.

not sure where to go with it from here.  maybe we can all tell our t's about it (or email them or something - don't want to take up valuable therapy time, but i'm going to tell mine and why we like the change).  maybe a letter to the dsm committee, whoever that may be.  pres. of the board, someone like that.  just throwing thoughts out.  i'm excited about it, i guess.  i really want this to happen.  it does feel empowering, even if it stays with us.  sitsee is how i would pronounce it.  chuckle.

[AphoticAtramentous]

Not sure how to feel about the 'Injury' part. If I told someone I had "Cumulative Traumatic Stress Injury", it just sounds like a fancy way of saying I've broken my arms and legs all in one go, or had some amount of physical stress on my body that has resulted in a physical ailment of some kind. A lot of doctors use 'trauma' as a way of defining a physical blow to the body I've noticed. Would have preferred Disorder over Injury because the definition of Disorder is more commonly associated with mental illnesses/injuries: "A disturbance or derangement that affects the function of mind or body". But that's just my two cents, and if the majority of people like CTSI then that's cool.

[BlancaLap]

Can someone explain to me why do you want to remove the "post"? Just curiosity

[AphoticAtramentous]

Can someone explain to me why do you want to remove the "post"? Just curiosity

In short:
PTSD can't really be diagnosed at the time of trauma because it relates to trauma that is a one-time event such as a death, natural disaster, etc. Thus it's most likely that the trauma the individual has experienced is 'post', in the past.
CPTSD can be diagnosed at the time of trauma because the individual was abused for a long period of time and may still be going through some sort of abuse. For a lot of us our trauma is still ongoing and thus 'post' doesn't really make sense.
Something like that at least, I'm sure others have different opinions on it as well.

[BlancaLap]

Can someone explain to me why do you want to remove the "post"? Just curiosity

In short:
PTSD can't really be diagnosed at the time of trauma because it relates to trauma that is a one-time event such as a death, natural disaster, etc. Thus it's most likely that the trauma the individual has experienced is 'post', in the past.
CPTSD can be diagnosed at the time of trauma because the individual was abused for a long period of time and may still be going through some sort of abuse. For a lot of us our trauma is still ongoing and thus 'post' doesn't really make sense.
Something like that at least, I'm sure others have different opinions on it as well.

Oh, now I understand. Thanks

[Fen Starshimmer]

Hi Kizzie and all,
I have just seen your post on the results of the polls.

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Based on the results of the polls changes to the wording of the current diagnosis does seem to be desirable, and the most popular wording is:

Cumulative Traumatic Stress Injury

I love this new wording; it feels so much more accurate and non-stigmatising. It's massively EMPOWERING. Wow! 

*******************************************************************************

Thank you to everyone who participated, I know I got a lot out of it     Now I suppose we should consider what are the next steps if any.  I thought perhaps we could use this thread now to discuss what if anything we might do with this info.  Do we contact trauma oriented organizations/researchers/clinicians with our thoughts on the wording?  Do we develop a commentary about it for any professionals who may visit here? Do we just keep it in-house as a discussion that has deepened/broadened our understanding of our symptoms? Other? 

(Note: I will be away from the forum for about 2-3 weeks starting Dec 4th so will not be commenting during that period.  Just so you know I have not abandoned the thread  .)

[/quote]

I say 'yes' to contacting trauma-oriented organizations/researchers/clinicians. I think OOTS is in a strong position to take a lead on this topic, given its wealth of knowledge and experience.
I realise that not everyone here on OOTS voted for these changes in wording, and perhaps we need to acknowledge that some people will choose to continue with the term CPTSD.
We need to validate all views and opinions, since that is a strong ethos at OOTS.

All those who are in favour of the new term should feel free to go out in the world and use it, in conversation, in social media, web and magazine articles, media interviews etc.

The very act of explaining the term will help spread the truth of what 'CPTSD' actually means, the specifics of the injury/injuries and the effects, deconstructing notions that it is a 'disorder' or weakness of some sort on the part of the sufferer.

These are just some of my initial thoughts and open to discussion.

[sanmagic7]

i like it, fen.

[Blueberry]

Not sure how to feel about the 'Injury' part. If I told someone I had "Cumulative Traumatic Stress Injury", it just sounds like a fancy way of saying I've broken my arms and legs all in one go, or had some amount of physical stress on my body that has resulted in a physical ailment of some kind.

While I agree that 'injury' is often used by docs for a physical, um, well, injury, I think having "cumulative" there means that we couldn't have got the physical injuries all in one go, but rather accumulated over time. Just my 2 cents.