5 signs of complex PTSD that most people miss

Have you ever heard of Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD)? The World Health Organization Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse conducted a study in 2016 that discovered the distinction between PTSD and C-PTSD. People with complex PTSD tend to notice feelings of trauma coming up more often, have more difficulty controlling emotions, are more likely to dissociate, you feel physical symptoms related to your past trauma, are more sensitive to triggers. Watch this video to see if you relate to some of these signs.

Disclaimer: If you recognize yourself relating to some of these signs, we hope that you use the knowledge towards your mental health journey and getting professional support.

#cptsd

Writer: Brie Cerniglia
Script Editor: Caitlin McColl
Script Manager: Kelly Soong
Animator: Sun Biscuit
YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong

REFERENCES

[GetYourLifeBetter]

If you have Complex PTSD you may be particularly likely to experience what some people call an 'emotional flashback', in which you have intense feelings that you originally felt during the trauma, such as fear, shame, sadness, or despair. You might react to events in the present as if they are causing these feelings, without realizing that you are having a flashback.

[antoniac]

I was diagnosed with CPTSD almost a year ago. I am a victim of abuse with my dad, sexually assaulted in high school, bullied through most of my school life, had an awful relationship with my ex and discovered a loved one dead. I am still struggling. I still have irregular emotions, flashbacks, hypervilgence, and a slew of other symptoms. Its a terrible thing to deal with. I really hope we raise more awareness of this new disorder. Since I learned how new it is.

Thank you so much for the kind words! Means alot to me. Also glad to be able to show that you are not alone with these internal battles.

[MusicallyMeLHTB]

The message was "It will be ok" and honestly, that's all I needed to hear 😢❤

[Ada_Isabella]

I’ve had CPTSD (and depression, anxiety, OCD, mysophonia) for 30 years. The things I’ve seen, survived, and lived through in my childhood and then surviving the war and living through that… the complex, multiple and long term trauma… it has almost destroyed me completely. I am just now starting to feel my body and brain slowly reconnect, but I am yet to FEEL safe - truly safe. It’s a deep wounding of the soul and it can take decades to heal. For all the people that have lived through horrors of life… I understand your suffering. 🙏🙏🙏

[nerinablais]

"IT WILL BE OK."

My PTSD mostly comes from being raised by an alcoholic mother, but it also partially comes from another traumatic experience that seems to mostly happen to women even though it can happen to men as well.

[LynnBowZ]

Timestamps!

1:26 - 1: Frequent feelings of trauma
2:25 - 2: Difficulty controlling your emotions
3:12 - 3: Were you saying something?
4:08 - 4: Physical symptoms when reminded of past trauma
4:56 - 5: Avoiding your trauma triggers

I hope everyone is doing well. If not, remember that you're not alone. I'm so proud of you for being here today, whether it was just getting out of bed, or simply waking up. I'm here for you, even though we may not know each other. <3

[Somusicais]

Psychedelics are just an exceptional mental health breakthrough. It's quite fascinating how effective they are against depression and anxiety. Saved my life.

[rigobertorodriguez]

Don’t stop what you do. You’ve made such a huge impact on my life because of this channel

[DanTheAnalyst]

I was diagnosed with CPTSD from "relationship trauma" I had no idea what was happening. One month post escape of the relationship, the symptoms just flooded in all at once! Insomnia, racing thoughts, night terrors, cold sweats, brain fog, panic attacks, anxiety, loud noises, car horns

[joysjoyfultime]

Do you know what's worse? People who leave you because they don't understand or even if they know the reason for your behavior, they leave you because they can't stand your behavior anymore. So you may be working to hide your symptoms and feeling so lonely that no one understands you but yourself.

[jojoshosho]

I grew up in a horrible environment. Our “home” was a war zone where nothing was stable. I would watch my mother be degraded and beaten. On top of that, I was neglected but also physically and verbally abused.

I deal with cptsd still at 28, but its gotten a lot better. Teenage years and early 20s I had the flashbacks everyday, the nightmares often where i wake up crying, and the dissociation episodes were very scary and would last hours at times. I could not control my anger around people who loved me, and this wasn’t fair to them. I felt like a piece of trash unworthy of love for a very long time.

Personally, the more I learned about toxic parents and how they affect us, the more it helped me heal. Its been constant work for years as I’ve continued to get help, try different interventions, and generally keep researching but it has made my quality of life much better.

Don’t give up. What happened to you IS horrible and you did NOT deserve it. You are worthy of love.

[artofjonahhh]

“IT WILL BE OK.”

…One of these days, I will get this dealt with. Your videos make me understand so much about myself and how badly things really are. If anything the soft tone voice also makes me feel calm in researching and learning mental illnesses.

…sorry if this comment is phasing randomly, I sometimes find it hard to think, but that’s also probably due to the fact I might have ADHD, but yeah.

[livelysoul]

Actually, Acute Stress Disorder is what you have when you have symptoms within 1 month of the event that go away. Regular PTSD can still bother you years later. It doesn't have to be categorized as C-PTSD. --Clinical Mental Health Counselor

[My_Life_Boring]

I love this channel and i feel really calm with her voice.


Also for people who can't solved the secret message or something, the secret message says.

"It will be ok" :)

[iqrahussain]

complex ptsd has completely changed my life especially over the last few years. it sucks that there's so little social awareness about it. i was always called a 'psycho' simply for expressing my emotions that i couldn't hold much longer. im only human too and people need to see that; especially when i do things i regret and hurt the people i love. i've gotten very bad social anxiety which only seems to increase. it feels like there's 500 voices in my head telling me what to do with my life and idk where to start. all i know is there's a difference between interests and passions. and life is too short to not follow your passions. at the end of the day we all reach the same fate.

it's just life, it'll be over before we know it

[Jacksonstatham-tfov]

I was diagnosed with cptsd since my teenage, spent my whole life fighting cptsd. Also suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Not until my wife recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. This is something that really need to be use globally to help people with similar health challenges.

[cobaltprime]

I recently started getting therapy and made an instant breakthrough when my therapist asked if I experienced any trauma. I never gave much thought to it, but I have PTSD.
I was bullied a lot as a kid. But the worst part was a teacher was bullying me. She was my language arts teacher and I was having a hard time. She didn’t make it better she just kept reprimanding me, even taking me to talk to the principal a few times. I then had to go to tutoring (which I’m just now realizing it was probably considered remedial classes) and the kids made fun of me for it.
My parents had enough and pulled me out before the last couple weeks when I told them what my teacher said. She stood up in front of the class and said, “You all did really well this year. Where *my name* ’s future in language arts is yet to be determined.”
Knowing I have PTSD from my time in that school explains so much now. My anxieties. Making presentations all the way through college (only getting worse each time). My anger when I mess something up. My tendency to go “auto-pilot” when doing things like driving (disassociation). Meeting new people, making new friends and finding a girlfriend. It was only made worse with the lockdowns, I lost all my friends because we lost touch.
All my anxiety, depression, irritability, loneliness, and pain stems from one old bag who is probably dead now. And now I’m 27 trying to treat something I didn’t even know I had since I was 12. It sucks.
The principal told my mom that “A lot of students that had trouble with her came back to thank her.” I’d sh!t on that woman’s grave if I knew where it was. She was awful.

[americanbookdragon]

I view the difference between PTSD and C-PTSD as having one versus dozens of traumatic events. I was getting a new trauma every week at one point. I also don’t experience dissociation like that. It’s just being blank, emotionally numb, and in observation mode. I’m not losing time like that.

[erinmallicoat]

I didn’t know about the dissociation until now!! Nor did I even know I was going thro that with my ptsd!! This is something I’ll definitely be talking about with my trauma therapist when I see her next!! Thx soooo much Psych2go! U’re really changing the world and educating others around the world!! Props to u!! 😊

[thepolishedwook]

This video makes me feel like someone understands me. CPTSD is so hard to explain to others and videos like this really help. Thanks for making this.