15 SIGNS YOU HAVE CPTSD (COMPLEX PTSD) | DR. KIM SAGE

This video describes 15 of the most common signs of CPTSD.

*FOR MORE INFORMATION ONLINE COURSES AND FREE CHECKLIST:

**************************

Please check out my courses (LINK ABOVE):

1. BORDERLINE AND NARCISSISTIC PARENTS: HEALING AND DEALING WITH YOUR TRAUMA

(*This course is designed specifically for you if you were raised by parents who had Narcissistic, Borderline or significantly Emotionally Immature parents.)

2. RE-MOTHERED: TRANSFORM YOUR WOUNDED INNER CHILD INTO AN INTERNALIZED, LOVING "MOTHER"

(***This course is designed to help you learn to heal your inner child AND your inner parent if you experienced a complicated childhood or challenging relational wounds).

3. IDENTIFYING CHILDHOOD EMOTIONAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT (FREE COURSE)

CHECKLIST IS INCLUDED IN ALL 3 COURSES!!**

xo

* Additionally, I am only able to work with California residents (due to state licensing and insurance requirements for myself) for weekly therapy once available. If you are interested, please also add in a few brief details in your email including your reasons for seeking treatment, current diagnoses, concerns, etc.

[BFNLEO]

1. Living in a state of hyper vigilance
2. Isolating
3. Repetitive relational patterns
4. Chronic health issues
5. Chronic mental health issues
6. Dissociation
7. Depersonalization
8. Derealization
9. Perfectionism/ harsh inner critic
10. Toxic shame
11. Living in survival mode
12. Feeling unworthy
13. Emotional flashbacks
14. Hyper- controlling
15. Chronic distrust/ never feeling safe

[CandaceWebb]

Isolation has definitely been a coping mechanism I’ve used since childhood. I used to wander the farm fields, help myself to breakfast from the garden and climb the oil drum at the side of the house to be alone with a barn cat stuffed into my shirt.

[crys]

CPTSD due to bullying is really something that should be talked about more often

[empressd]

I really thought I was the only one who stayed up to unreasonably late hours (like 4 AM) just so I could have some peace and quiet in the house. Even the sounds of my family walking around and closing doors gets to me. I am someone that needs time alone to recharge and the sounds going on in the house make it very obvious I'm not alone. It's been several years since I truly had the house to myself for more than a couple hours and it has taken a huge toll on my mental health. I just have nowhere else to go or can't afford to.

[Flyingrabbit]

The problem with trying to be myself in a relationships while healing from CPTSD is that 90% of my interpersonal personality is a response to trauma. I think most of us have that issue. The other 10% of me is made of solitary interests I've thought very deeply about for a long time. That is what I consider me. I have a wide range of interests but in most cases my knowledge of them is too deep to share in casual conversations. It would bore the other person. I start to tell someone what I believe on a topic and realize that my opinion comes from a year of reading related material and many hours of contemplation. For them it is just a passing topic. My life is my mind. I think that scanning also develops the intuition. I can feel when someone's mood changes and of course I think I did it. Relationships just aren't fun. Luckily I'm happy...and I don't long to be around others. I have quite a few talents to amuse myself with and enough things to learn to see me safely to the grave.

[christineewing]

Thank you Dr Kim. I am in my 60s now, I have had lifelong cPTSD, and finally I have a good trauma-informed therapist. A couple of things that I don't hear being talked about are people with cPTSD NOT having children because of chaotic and traumatising childhoods. That is me. I decided in my teens that I was never going to have children. I felt that I had no idea how to be a parent. A second point that is not often mentioned is the prevalence of addiction and substance abuse among people with cPTSD. I have also had a long and problematic "relationship" with alcohol. I now understand that drinking was a maladaptive way to try to soothe myself. I'm sober now, but it took a long time for me to make the connection between my cPTSD symptoms and using alcohol for relief.

Recovery and healing are hard, but I'm in a much better place now. than I was a few years ago.

Thanks for all that you do. ❣ P.S. I love your cat! 😽

[AlanaBananaCanada]

I'm not a fan of a lot of psychologists just due to having very bad experiences in therapy for CPTSD, it actually made it worsen. But there needs to be more doctors like Kim, a lot of them only understand in theory what's wrong with the patient, but have never actually experienced it themselves, so they make critical life threatening mistakes. This is a very unique doctor, she should be highly regarded in my opinion.

[prettyzen]

i remember being threatened to be kicked out (from the age of around 8) by my narc mother and being the target of my fathers alcohol fueled moods. Because of this I used to run away frequently. I used to love the feeling of the dark quiet streets imagining a whole new life for myself somehow. Often I would walk by a happy sounding house and have tears in my eyes wishing I could be part of that family

[agnesg]

i find myself being so lonely, but being so so scared of opening up. and the few times i've found someone I feel is special and gets me, more often than not- they solidify my fears by leaving my life. i am giving my kids a stable, loving foundation, but my God i've been so tourtured the older I get- trying to hold it all together and carry the baggage.

[silviasevilla]

It’s so true. As a child I did not show any sign of being neglected, isolated and not cared for. I just felt I did not fit anywhere. Being ignored = rejected

[joannacurtis]

That sigh about 7 minutes in sent chills down my spine. My mother has been gone for 4 years thank goodness, but I don’t know that I’ll ever overcome my deeply ingrained fear of her.

[aprilwhite]

cPTSD runs so deeply to my core that I have dysautonomia (autonomic dysfunction). My body has been in such an intense “fight or flight” state for 38 years that it has literally damaged my nerves.

Your videos help me feel sane, normal, worthy and important. Thank you 🙏🏻

[cdavis]

Isolation…. Hmmm… I always called it circling my wagons. I pull away to ‘deal’ with something. Get strong enough to get back out there and try again. Nice to know I’m not alone. Thank you for your honesty and openness. Seeing you courageously showing us your own vulnerability is truly inspiring.

[chelsea]

The Crappy Childhood Fairy channel is a dope woman who shows you how to heal from this. Shoutout to all of us taking responsibility for ourselves and trying to get better. You deserve it 💪💞

[elkidee]

I have most of these symptoms. I grew up having no memory of large blocks of time, I am hyper vigilant and startle very easily. I never truly feel safe. I have had two relationships both of which were abusive. I’m 76 and healthy, I go to a gym and am learning how to put myself first. I wish I had this information as a younger person, but I have it now and am trying to do some self care.

[stormaurora]

My first traumatic event happened to me 48 years ago when I was 12 years old and I am still in that room. The abuse happened until I left home at 16 but my life has been hell since. I was diagnosed with cptsd in 2018 but still have never had any therapy or help. It's truly exhausting and scary.

[kibundle]

I am in my mid-60s, have been through the gamut of antidepressants, drugs for anxiety, etc., for decades. I have been in and out of therapy since I was in middle school. Only recently did I find a therapist who told me I have had PTSD since I was a child. Why this was a surprise to me, I don't know. I guess I thought PTSD was something for soldiers who went to war, not someone like me. So much of what I've been through makes sense now and I hope to heal. Having a label for what I've been through makes a huge difference. I wish I had known earlier.

[gab]

I grew up in Europe. My grandfather was a WW2 vet with (in hindsight) severe PTSD. He was an Alcoholic, beat and abused my mother and grandmother. My mother in turn was a hot mess .Alcohol, rages, quick with her hand . My father, same mess, except single mother and also all kind of disfunction. He was more avoidant. My sister and I tried to do better with our Children, but I for one still dealt with a lot of the issues and wish I could have a do-over with my kids. Looking around my contemporaries a good chunk dealt with the same stuff in one form or another. I think, at least for my age group it's an epidemic.

[samanthad]

I’ve developed CPTSD from my mother throughout my childhood, and it became worse after dealing with a narcissist ex whom I have young kids with and it’s such an odd feeling because I feel like I’m just existing on auto pilot everyday. I’ve always preferred to be alone and by myself. Life is so hard, and it’s difficult navigating through life dealing with trauma. Sigh

[janepoppet]

Literally all of this. It makes me so deeply sad that cptsd and the formulations of narcissistic abuse are still wilfully or ignorantly not acknowledge by our institutions - health, mental health and most importantly legal systems. Definitely not here in the UK.
Sending much love to all of you. ❤