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About CPTSD

Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

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Readers Review From AMAZON 
First Edition from 2016

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5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2018

Verified Purchase of THE RELIVING

Believable and poignant. The author reminds me of clients I have treated in the past (I have a master's degree in social work). However, she is more insightful and curious than most.

 

CPTSD makes most people both hyperalert and at the same time unwilling to accept what they are sensing-- a terribly stressful attempt at self-protection. That's the source of the I must be crazy response. It's like they are gaslighting themselves.

Trauma memories are stored in the hippocampus and processed through the amygdala. Thats why she could feel the trauma without the actual memories. The haunting was triggering her over and over until it seems as if the constant exposure blunted the trauma response. She did feel stronger because the haunting pulled the memory of the trauma up to her consciousness over and over until her cns was no longer activated.

 

Her CPTSD did not cause the paranormal activity. She lived in a haunted house that kept triggering her. I would not support her continued residence in that house however because at some point the stress and lack of sleep will probably cause depression and anxiety that will deplete her natural amazing resilience. Also, her poor pets are very unhappy. Btw I too lived in a haunted house and am glad I was able to move out when I did since these things seem to only get worse over time.

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Clip from Dr. Phil on PTSD Symptoms

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The CPTSD Foundation

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Find out more (Video)

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JULY 7, 2012

 

C-PTSD is a diagnosis that was first proposed by Judith Herman, a professor of clinical psychology at Harvard University. In her book “Trauma and Recovery” she proposed the diagnosis of Complex Post -traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD).

It differs from the definition which currently appears in the DSM-IV-TR of PTSD as it addresses the circumstances of multiple traumas throughout the lifetime, as opposed to PTSD, which is a diagnosis best captured by the presence of a single acute trauma (such as a car accident, single rape, or exposure to natural disaster). Although these cases of PTSD are horrific and distressful a different psychological picture emerges when dealing with clients who have been exposed to multiple traumas.

Currently, this population of patients may end up with a series of diagnosis ranging from “PTSD”, “Disorder of Extreme Stress, not otherwise specified”, or “personality change due to classifications found elsewhere”.  All of these DSM-IV-TR diagnoses are ones that can accommodate a C-PTSD presentation.

 

Further complications in diagnosis arise when one considers the high levels of  *co-morbidity which are seen in patients who have complicated trauma histories.  A diagnosis which often accompanies C-PTSD are depression, OCD, borderline personality disorder, dissociative disorders such as DID, agoraphobia and social phobia

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In 1988, Dr. Judith Herman of Harvard University suggested that a new diagnosis, complex PTSD, was needed to describe the symptoms of long-term trauma. 

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Books on Amazon by DR. Judith Herman

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From the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Department of Veterans Affairs

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A developmental approach to complex PTSD

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* co-morbidity: the simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient.

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