Once I realized that I had been abused, I naturally read and listened to every on the matter I could get my hand on. I understood that all the symptom in PTSD applied to me. But time and again I would come across videos by partitionersTM who stated clearly that one can only have PTSD when there was one single traumatic event. However, when one has suffered over years, decades even, then that would be C-PTSD. They said that’s different, you are not in the right place here, and there is not even a diagnosis for that … so move on. Well, that attitude really triggered my abandonment trauma big time. I felt rejected and invalidated. My suffering has been great, and it felt disrespectful not to deserve a diagnosis.
It was milestone when in 1980 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was added to the diagnostic manual by the American Psychiatric Association. For the first time a mental disorder that was caused by something external was recognized.
In the early 90’s Judith Lewis Herman published her book Trauma and Recovery The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. Her research had been focused on women, who at the time came forward more often if they had suffered domestic abuse. In her book she summarized her findings naming the 6 symptoms of what she named complex-PTSD:
◦ Disturbance of affect regulation
◦ Alteration of consciousness
◦ Disturbed self-perception
◦ Disturbed perception of the offender
◦ Relationship problems
◦ Changes in the value system
…. ahhh that feeling of relief when someone can sum-up a lifetime of struggles in 6 neat little bullet points.
But too late, C-PTSD was not included in the International Classification of Diseases, 10th version that was published 1990 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Only a vague mention of „Enduring personality change after catastrophic experience“ in subsection F62.1. The problem was that from this, practitioners had a hard time diagnosing patients correctly. Research on C-PTSD was also difficult to conduct, who to include in a trail and who not to. A good standard is needed to also compare the results of different studies.
Therefore, the WHO made an effort to clearly state the signifying symptoms in the latest version of the International Classification of Diseases.
Classic PTSD symptoms:
⁃ Re-experience in the present
⁃ Avoidance of traumatic reminders
⁃ A sense of current threat
In addition to those three, symptoms for C-PTSD also include:
⁃ Disturbances in self-organization: Emotion regulation difficulties (e.g. anxiety)
⁃ Relationship difficulties (e.g. avoiding relationships)
⁃ Negative self-concept (e.g. seeing oneself as a failure)
Now all symptoms of PTSD are included in C-PTSD. This explains why I enjoy reading about PTSD so much even though I have C-PTSD. I can relate to all the symptoms that are found in classic PTSD. And because a standard for C-PTSD was missing in the past, there is just more out there about PTSD.
Furthermore, the WHO put together a streamlined questionnaire that diagnoses C-PTSD and distinguishes it from classic PTSD. They even conducted trails to ensure that it is accurate and easy to use for practitioners and you yourself. Check it out here and find out where you stand.
