Symptoms of Complex PTSD

Although many of the symptoms of complex PTSD are frightening and crazy, but actually they can help you survive to from the tragedy when you are facing a trauma. However, these symptoms of complex PTSD can be troublesome when you need them to go away but they are still hanging around (Goulston 2008).

Symptoms of complex PTSD is much more hard to handle than a simple PTSD because the survivor from a complex PTSD can be said that they had undergo a prolonged trauma thana survivor from simple PTSD. This can lead them to a trauma forever if those symptoms are not being treated. The people with complex PTSD may experience one or more of the symptoms, depend on how severe conditions they are.

Wild mood swings and out-of-control emotions

Complex PTSD will make someone feel confuse about their emotions because they are not able to regulate and control them. Just give you a simple example, if a person had undergo sexual abuse, when she is recalling her bad memory about the abuser, she may suddenly react emotionally such as throwing plates or want to commit a suicide.

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People who suffering with complex PTSD will have some out-of control behavior as well, such as:



start a one-night stands relationship with a stranger





gambling away large amounts of money





shoplifting

talk part in risk behaviors such as speeding

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Dissociation

The people with complex PTSD will feel that they are detached from their bodies or themselves after that experienced a serious form of numbing in their emotion and imagine that that bad experience was happening to someone else instead of themselves.

It is in their minds saying that, "It is fine. It is not me. It is happening to someone else."

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However, this condition will make the people who suffer in complex PTSD have a feel that they are only the shadows of the others instead of being a human.

Disturbances in how you feel about yourself and your body

People with complex PTSD will have a negative feeling towards themselves. They will feel guilt or shame, and not willing to tell their feeling to the others therefore lead them to a condition of helplessness. Prolonged exposure to the negative feelings can cause them have some negative behaviors such as hurting themselves by knocking their heads to the wall or have some eating disorder such as Anorexia and Bulimia.

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Distorted feelings about the person who perpetrated your trauma

Stockholm syndrome is a special result that comes along with complex PTSD. The is the condition when a person is being abused but he or she is trying to protect the abuser from arresting.

Stockholm syndrome is named because of a bank robbery which happen in Stockholm. The hostages involved in the bank robbery were emotionally attached to the captors and tried to protect them although they were in a safety condition.

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Alterations in your feelings toward other people

People with complex PTSD will trust nobody and feel afraid to expose their life to other people because they feel shame about themselves. In other condition, some of them may be overly needy and always need your accompany because they are scare of being alone.

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Loss of meaning in your life

People who suffer in complex PTSD will always feel despair and feel hopelessness. This can cause them to think a lot and start to think for ending their lives since there are no meaning in their life.

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References

Goulston, M. (2008). Post traumatic stress disorder for dummies. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Pg 49.