This month is PTSD awareness month. Those four letters stand for post-traumatic stress disorder. I was first diagnosed with it at 22 years old by a therapist. I was surprised. I thought only combat veterans developed it. The therapist explained that it is common among people who survived childhood trauma. I now understand that I have complex PTSD.
C-PTSD is “described as an enhanced version of the current definition of PTSD, with clinical features of PTSD plus three additional clusters of symptoms namely emotional dysregulation, negative self-cognitions, and interpersonal hardship” in a 2017 study. However, while PTSD is recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5), C-PTSD is not. The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), C-PTSD is listed as a separate condition.
The three symptoms of C-PTSD
I always find it helpful to look at definitions of concepts, so I will break down each of the three symptoms of C-PTSD, beginning with emotional dysregulation. The American Psychological Association defines dysregulation as “an extreme or inappropriate emotional response to a situation.” In a fit of transparency, I will use an example of dysregulation from my life. I became very sad and almost despondent while reading a book last year about childhood trauma. The reason is that the book triggered me.
That is a mild example of dysregulation. There are others I can site. I hesitate for a moment because sometimes transparency is uncomfortable. It feels like being emotionally naked. However, I will give you another example despite feeling uncomfortable. This one goes back to my early twenties. Someone I dated broke up with me and I became incredibly upset. It was a short relationship yet I behaved like we had been together for years. And admittedly, it took me years to truly get over being dumped. The reason I now know is that I was emotionally dysregulated.
Negative self-cognitions are negative thoughts about ourselves. Dr. Daniel Amen refers to them as automatic negative thoughts and uses the handy acronym ANTs. The Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine defines them as “cognitions about the self, others, or the world in general that are characterized by negative perceptions, expectations, and attributions and are associated with unpleasant emotions and adverse behavioral, physiological, and health outcomes.”
Here is an example of extreme negative self-cognitions. Until the last month, I would wake up with negative thoughts about myself. The thoughts ranged from “I’m a loser” to “I have wasted my life.” Next week, I will get into why those thoughts stopped. What I will emphasize this week is that those negative thoughts about myself caused extreme anxiety and made it hard to even like myself, let alone love myself.
Interpersonal hardship can also be called interpersonal difficulties, which the Nightingale Hospital in London defines as relating to “issues in creating and maintaining healthy and positive professional or personal relationships.” For me, interpersonal difficulties show up in my struggles to trust people. I am terrified of being hurt or abused again, so I tend to put walls up with people. However, I am pushing myself to open up to people I can trust and take a chance. I am working on being vulnerable.
A sentence in Brene Brown’s book, The Gift of Imperfection describes the importance of vulnerability:
“We have to own our story and share it with someone who has earned the right to hear it, someone who we can count on to respond with compassion.”
In the next three weeks, I will break down how I am freeing myself from each C-PTSD symptom, starting with negative self-cognitions.
Image by Mandy Fontana from Pixabay
I'm so looking forward to your "to come,", posts on this subject plus it's good to finally hear from you again