Complex PTSD Awareness
Friday, June 10, 2016 71 Comments
C-PTSD Awareness
Signs and Symptoms of Chronic Trauma
© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the Self-Health SeriesOne of the factors of PTSD is that some people seem to have severe cases while others do not — that some soldiers were more vulnerable to extreme trauma and stress than others.
As an explanation for some of these complications it has been suggested and researched that there is a form of PTSD that is called DESNOS [Disorders of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified]. Another term is C-PTSD or Complex-PTSD. ~ Allan Schwartz, LCSW, Ph.D
Relatively Recent Distinction & Debate
Many traumatic events that result in PTSD are of time-delimited duration — for example, short term military combat exposure, rape or other violent crimes, earthquakes and other natural disasters, fire, etc. However, some individuals experience chronic trauma that continues or repeats for months or years at a time.
There is currently a debate in the Mental Health community that centers around the proposed need for an additional diagnosis. Proponents assert that the current PTSD diagnosis does not fully capture the core characteristics of a more complex form – symptoms of the severe psychological harm that occurs with prolonged, repeated trauma.
Let’s DO It
One of the longest-standing proponents is Dr. Judith Herman, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard University Medical School. She is well respected for her unique understanding of trauma and its victims, and has repeatedly suggested that a new diagnosis of Complex PTSD [C-PTSD] is needed to distinguish and detail the symptoms of the result of exposure to long-term trauma.
