Thanks to a post from @clevercreator into my head popped the POST written yesterday about PTSD is not just for soldiers.
I mentioned in that post CPTSD or Complex PTSD, so today I thought I'd share the differences (and the likenesses) of PTSD. Even if one person reads this and recognises symptoms in themselves or in another and help is sought I have achieved something from this brain-mess I live with.
To quickly refresh (or if you didn't read yesterday's post - click POST above to read)
PTSD is a set of behaviours that are as a direct result of a traumatic event that the brain cannot or has not processed in what is generally known as the 'normal' fashion. We all suffer something at some point in life. The death of a loved one or pet, the loss of a job and income, divorce... Many things cause us to have a huge blip in our normal day to day operation, our brains gets confused and we grieve or get angry or feel desperation. The vast majority of people go through these traumas and come out the other side reasonably quickly, the brain processes the information, reacts accordingly and the person moves on, never forgetting but able to return to whatever their normal is.
In this example found on www.getselfhelp.co.uk (useful for psychologists etc as well as those seeking help) shows a good metaphor of how the brain normally works.
Someone with PTSD gets such a shock that the brain skips a step and gets stuck in a loop. A bit like a computer program:- instruction one, go to instruction two : instruction two, go to instruction one. It's loop that will never cease until someone puts it right. That's what happens in PTSD.
Again, the "gethelp" website metaphor
Yesterday I included signs and symptoms and further information. If that's what you're looking for then click the "POST" link in green and it'll take you there. It's only a starting point for you but it's somewhere to start.
In this post I am showing more about PTSD and then the difference (basic info only) between that and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or CPTSD.
As you can see by the above little sketch someone with PTSD has a singular or close timescale event that causes the process factory of the brain to shut down. It's not until something unlocks the gates or removes the union-strike line that the factory can be reopened. This 'closure' causes the symptoms of PTSD and the changes in the persons emotional life structure, which can often in it's turn cause further stress and trauma in the current day. This reinforces the closed gates of the factory and the loop continues to run until complete self destruction occurs, help is sought or the person becomes so closed down they merely exist in the world rather than living.
CPTSD is similar but different. The basics remain the same. It's trauma based, it causes personality traits similar or even the same as PTSD but the biggest difference is that the trauma isn't a single blow. It's not one war, one rape, one beating, one death... it's cause by many things, and often different types occurring within the same time-frame.
For example - I use my own as I know it best - between the ages of 2/3 years to the age of 9 I suffered sexual abuse several times a week : multiple trauma. During the same time I suffered physical abuse (punching, starvation, whipped by a leather belt etc) : multiple trauma. My mother 'ignored' it all - abandonment : longstanding trauma. Because the result of me speaking out was the imprisonment of my abuser and thus the suffering of the family thrown into poverty the traumas already suffered were compounded. So all in all, in the formative, first 10 -12 years of my life I went through quite a bit of not-normal family life (although believe it or not it wasn't all bad!). The trauma to my young brain /psyche was piled on and on until I got the factory shut down and for me - and people like me - the factory was then demolished. The was little or no hope of processing anything in life in the normal way again (until I got help that is).
I do not write my tale for any sympathy by the way - I want people to understand what people like me deal with. It could equally as well be one of the poor young souls in Syria watching family butchered, homes destroyed etc. or a child in the current D.R of Congo crisis, or the 13 children locked away for their entire life almost in the USA until one found the strength (emotional I mean) to escape. I write from my own knowledge though as I know that best of all.
So here's a small chart that shows the basic differences between PTSD and CPTSD
There's an interesting line near the bottom which is often known as Stockholm Syndrome see here for more on this
I spent my whole life believing I was a 'Daddy's Girl' and that he was the most important person to me and I to him in my younger years. I truly believed he 'didn't mean it' for a long time. Only therapy made me see that in fact I was protecting my own young brain by making him an ally not an enemy.
This is why many times abusers don't get easily recognised. The abused person or persons naturally ally with them to save their own self but this action serves as a smoke screen for the abuser. But that's a whole different section of the subject.
In summary, PTSD and CPTSD have similar starting places (trauma/abuse), the same ending place (best case - therapy, worse case - self destruction) but the path travelled in between is a lot harder and more Complex (hence the name) for those with CPTSD
Well, this post is long enough but I hope whoever reads it has found something of interest and maybe I have helped one or two at least to understand themselves, seek help if need be, or maybe someone knows someone who hasn't yet realised there's help to be had for a problem they don't think they have got... if you get my drift.
