(really sorry for previous posts..having trouble getting it to post properly) :nailbiting:
ok..so here's my crack at it..& please forgive my laymen terms ;)
Complex trauma relates to: prolonged and repeated trauma..such as torture..& where I believe the problems start to rise, as we are speaking in terms of trauma & are missing out on the findings being made with relation to torture survivors.
However, as the effects of torture are becoming better known, there is also becoming a correlation between them & those effects experienced as a result of certain traumas.
But when you start to look at the effects of torture, you also start to gain a better understanding of the effects of complex trauma & how they are distinctly different from the symptoms of PTSD.
For example, when they are talking about hopelessness & despair with regard to complex trauma, they are not referring to the hopelessness & despair experienced with depression, but rather the kind of hopelessness & despair experienced when you are stuck in a life & death situation, with no chance of rescue or escape, only trapped with no choice but to endure. That’s a whole other kind of hopelessness& despair & tends to remain even after the trauma is over.
When a person finds themselves in a situation that the mind cannot seem to make sense of & there is no respite or ability to relieve the situation or escape & are trapped, forced to endure, a fundamental deterioration of self can occur that degrades & deteriorates a person’s self, breaks down personality, sense of where one starts & where the perpetrator ends (depending of severity of pain) & even the concept of time – past, present, future – there is only now (the moment).
I have never heard it better put than the following quotes from Jean Amery’s ‘At the Mind’s Limits’ - & I can completely relate.
“In that malformative moment, the victim begins the devolution from person to body. There occurs a border violation of self by the other which can be neither neutralized by the expectation of help nor rectified through resistance.”
“Torture robs the victim of "trust in the world," the certainty that his self is inviolate and that others will respect the boundaries of his self.”
“But when my body is attacked--and, furthermore, when I have neither the ability to defend myself nor any expectation of help from another person--then my self is attacked. The other becomes "absolute sovereign" with the power "to inflict suffering and destroy,"
… "Only in torture does the transformation of the person into flesh become complete.”
Wikipedia also says -
Torture targets the person as a whole – physically, emotionally, and socially – so that PTSD is an inadequate description of the magnitude and complexity of the effects of torture.
Based on new research psychological and physical torture have similar mental effects. No diagnostic terminology encapsulates the deep distrust of others which many torture survivors have developed, nor the destruction of all that gave their lives meaning.
Now for me, my trauma was more torture than abuse, so I could just be speaking for myself here, but when I replace ‘torture’ with ‘prolonged and repeated trauma’, it reads just as true for me & also sums up really well why I have been having so much trouble with trying to get adequate help with these specific problems.
Now on the other hand, getting on top of my PTSD symptoms ultimately came down to retraining my mental, emotional & physical responses. Wasn’t easy, took time, but are now manageable. However, those symptoms aside, I am becoming more & more aware of the fact that I just don’t walk this earth in possession of some of the certainties that others seem to possess & rely on for their sense of safety & wholeness. I’m not upset; don’t feel like I’m losing my mind or heart going a million miles an hour & while completely calm & rational, it’s just not there – a void. And I would really like some help with it.
And this from davidbaisrebeinu -
“The explanation for these symptoms is the victim’s failure to develop or maintain adequate “self-functions.” These are basic ingredients required by all individuals to feel emotionally whole and to positively engage the world.”
…“that deprived or traumatized children have been robbed of the “good self-objects” required to provide a “safe holding environment” and required later for “self-soothing.””
“In fact, experts had long expressed their concern of limiting the construct of trauma to “PTSD.” The most notable downside of the narrow PTSD paradigm was the exclusion of a diagnostic label for trauma victims presenting with some of these other important trauma generated symptoms.”
“This new diagnostic entity would provide a legitimate forum for victims of continuous trauma who present with a spectrum of functional impairments that appear quite distinct from PTSD.”
“As a diagnostic syndrome, complex trauma highlighted problems not captured by PTSD.
These symptom domains appeared most pertinent for victims of child abuse, rape, incest, battered spouses, and victims of political terror such as civil war or genocide.”
“The value of the “complex trauma” construct in the DSM Manual for the victims of chronic interpersonal trauma should provide a diagnostic umbrella for victims whose symptoms were previously dispersed throughout different DSM categories.”
“Victims with complex trauma have symptoms that govern essential and enduring personality- or “self-functions.” They have deficits in autonomy, empowerment, and self-agency, which belong more to Axis II (the domain which addresses the “personality behind the presenting symptoms”).
“Since this type of trauma victim shows impairment in core self-functioning, “complex trauma” would provide an appropriate diagnosis more far-reaching than PTSD in its complexity and implications for treatment.”
“The DSM-IV Field Trial attempted to create the term “DESNOS” for those patients whom they believed suffered additional symptoms of PTSD.”
“In reviewing the PTSD Field Trial, Ford found that a “substantial proportion of complex trauma survivors do not meet lifetime criteria for PTSD.””
“Ford further noted that while patients with PTSD suffer from a flood of terrifying thoughts, emotions and impulses (in addition to reliving the trauma and having out of control experiences), the victims of prolonged interpersonal abuse resulted in disturbance of core object-relations, dysregulation of affect, and a lack of self-cohesion (which falls under the category of “dissociation”).
Many experts believe that complex trauma and PTSD are separate entities with some overlap.”
“The problem with the DSM-IV committee’s construct of DESNOS was to bundle PTSD symptoms together with Complex Trauma.
This would exclude victims who suffered from Complex Trauma (only) but without PTSD.”
“Complex Trauma victims will continue to find themselves with a diverse range miscellaneous diagnoses until this entity is fully recognized.”
The separation of PTSD and CPTSD or DESNOS would allow the specific research required for the proper treatment of these specific symptoms relating to complex trauma to take place & relevant funding obtained to do so. Something I gladly welcome :)
Really hope that helps..it has for me :tup:
