What is living with PTSD like?

Living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be incredibly challenging. Individuals with PTSD may experience intrusive memories, hypervigilance, mood swings, and avoidance behaviors. These symptoms can impact daily life, relationships, and overall well-being. However, with proper support and treatment, people can heal from PTSD.

How can I calm down PTSD flare-ups?

Calming symptoms of PTSD can be a gradual process that involves finding coping strategies that work best for you. Techniques such as deep breathing exercises, mindfulness practices, grounding techniques, staying connected with supportive people, and seeking professional help through therapy can all contribute to managing and calming PTSD symptoms.

What are the 4 F's of CPTSD?

The 4 F's of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) stand for: Flight, Fight, Freeze, and Fawn. These responses represent typical reactions to trauma, including avoiding triggers (Flight), confronting threats (Fight), feeling paralyzed or overwhelmed (Freeze), and seeking safety and connection through people-pleasing or caretaking behaviors (Fawn).

Is CPTSD just borderline?

No. Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) is distinct from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), although they can share some overlapping symptoms. Both disorders are linked to childhood trauma and may result in difficulties with emotions and relationships. However, people with BPD will have much more difficult issues with their self-image, and people with cPTSD will have much more impairing trauma symptoms like avoidance and hypervigilance.

Around 70% of people will experience a trauma in their lifetime. However, around 6% will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mental health condition in which the aftermath of trauma results in significant distress and impairment. PTSD is relatively common and usually very treatable.

In recent years, however, research has noted that not all cases of PTSD are similar. In fact, there seems to be a divide between survivors of singular, contained traumatic events and those of chronic, invasive traumas. From this differentiation arose the diagnosis complex PTSD, or cPTSD.

How Is CPTSD Different from PTSD?

cPTSD is not officially recognized in the DSM-5, the diagnostic handbook for therapists and psychiatrists. However, it has grown in popularity in the professional mental health world and in pop psychology. cPTSD captures an experience that PTSD on its own does not.

Let’s take a look at the difference between cPTSD and PTSD.

What Does PTSD Look Like?

PTSD is common in survivors of acute trauma, such as car crashes, active shootings, or natural disasters, and of chronic trauma, such as abuse, poverty, war, or childhood neglect.

According to the DSM-5, symptoms of PTSD are broken into three categories:

Intrusion Symptoms:
- Recurrent, involuntary, and distressing memories of the traumatic event.
- Distressing dreams related to the traumatic event.
- Flashbacks or other intense or prolonged psychological distress triggered by reminders of the traumatic event.
Avoidance:
- Avoiding distressing memories, thoughts, feelings, or external reminders associated with the traumatic event.
Negative alterations in cognitions and mood:
- Inability to remember important aspects of the traumatic event.
- Persistent and exaggerated negative beliefs about oneself, others or the world.
- Persistent distorted blame of self or others for causing the traumatic event.
- Persistent negative emotional state.
- Markedly diminished interest in significant activities.
- Feeling detached or estranged from others.
Alterations in arousal and reactivity:
- Irritable behavior and angry outbursts.
- Reckless or self-destructive behavior.
- Hypervigilance.
- Exaggerated startle response.
- Problems with concentration.
- Sleep disturbance.

Now, let’s look at how that compares with cPTSD.

What Does a cPTSD Episode Look Like?

Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is caused by prolonged exposure to traumatic events, such as abuse or neglect. cPTSD can affect your life at all times of the day and night, but certain triggers may exacerbate symptoms, causing an episode to flare up.

Here are some common symptoms of CPTSD:

Emotional Dysregulation - Feeling intense emotions that are difficult to manage and control.
Hypervigilance - Being constantly on edge, easily startled, and always alert for potential threats.
Flashbacks and Intrusive Memories - Vivid memories of the traumatic event that can feel like you are experiencing them again.
Avoidance - Steering clear of people, places, or things that remind you of the trauma.
Negative Self-Concept - Feeling ashamed, guilty, or unworthy, with low self-esteem.
Difficulty with Relationships - Struggling to trust others, feeling isolated, or experiencing challenges in forming and maintaining healthy relationships.
Self-Destructive Behavior - Engaging in harmful behaviors like substance abuse, self-harm, or risky activities to cope with emotional pain.
Emotional Numbing - Feeling detached or disconnected from your emotions, or finding it hard to experience positive feelings.

cPTSD shares many of the same symptoms as PTSD, with the addition of emotional dysregulation, persistent negative feelings about the self, and difficulty forming relationships.

CPTSD vs PTSD: Similarities

Both cPTSD and PTSD arise out of trauma, and because of that they have many similarities. These include symptoms such as:

Intense disturbing thoughts, feelings, and nightmares related to their trauma, which can greatly impact daily life.
Hypervigilance and always feeling on edge.
Avoidance behaviors, particularly around any reminders to their trauma. (Such as avoiding places or people that remind them of their trauma.)

Trauma changes the way our brain experiences the real world. When we experience a trauma, our brain is trying to get us out of that situation using whatever means necessary. PtSD occurs when your brain doesn't understand that you are safe, and is trying to use survival tactics (a fight or flight response) in everyday life.

Because this is the basis of how trauma works, both cPTSD and PTSD will share many of these characteristics.

CPTSD vs PTSD: Differences

cPTSD is PTSD but, well, complex. In many cases, complex refers to the chronic, persistent nature of the trauma. It was not an isolated event but a long-term living situation in which the only option was to endure. Especially when this sort of trauma happens at a younger age when our brains are more likely to change based on our experiences, it can have massive long-lasting effects on our personality, attachment style, and ability to handle everyday stressors.

Differences between cPTSD and PTSD include:

Those with cPTSD may experience a sense of worthlessness, guilt, or feeling different from others, while individuals with PTSD might have a more limited impact on their self-concept.
cPTSD may lead to challenges in regulating emotions and forming stable relationships, more so than someone with PTSD.
People with cPTSD might experience a pervasive sense of hopelessness and despair, feeling as though the trauma has irrevocably changed their life, whereas individuals with PTSD may have a more limited impact on their worldview (example: a PTSD response might be “I’ll be okay so long as I never get into a car again.” Whereas a cPTSD response may be “I’ll never be okay again.”)
Duration and Severity of Symptoms: cPTSD symptoms are often more pervasive and enduring, impacting various areas of life, whereas PTSD symptoms can be more focused on specific triggers or situations.

Both PTSD and cPTSD can have massive impacts on your life. The difference is that PTSD is usually contained to triggers around the trauma, whereas cPTSD can feel like it has spread throughout all of your reactions and emotions.

Do I Have PTSD or CPTSD?

The best way to tell if you have PTSD or cPTSD is to talk to a therapist or psychiatrist, who can give you a diagnosis. If you are curious if you might have PTSD, you can take this free, online PTSD assessment. This is not an official diagnosis but can help you understand the likelihood of you having PTSD or cPTSD.

Another way is by answering the following questions.

True or False:

The trauma I experienced was chronic and a fact of life, either in my living situation or in my environment.
I’ve lost relationships since my trauma and feel like I can’t relate to anyone anymore.
I feel worthless. I don’t think there’s any hope for me.
I get irrationally angry. I hate it, and wish I could stop, but sometimes it feels like I can’t control my emotions.
I always feel on edge and in danger, even in my safe spaces. There is hardly any reprieve from these feelings.

If you answered “true” to most of the questions, you might have cPTSD. If you answered “False”, you likely have PTSD.

Whether you have PTSD or cPTSD, getting treatment is vital. Recovery from both is possible, but most people need the help of a professional. Treatments for trauma often include medication and talk therapy. Some people find group therapy or holistic therapies also effective.

To learn more about treatment for trauma, contact Lifebulb’s support team. We have trauma therapists who are available to help you heal today. Recovery is possible.