People online complain that their therapist/psychologist/psychiatrist will not use CPTSD as a diagnosis. According to their own manual of disorders DSM-5, it doesn’t exist, so for insurance purposes some other set of letters are used. My counselor wouldn’t even give me PTSD, until my work wanted to know exactly what I was living with. My therapist did not want me to feel I was locked into some disorder with the mistaken burden that I can not get better. No easy answers. Awareness and understanding of trauma and how it effects people short and long time is understudied and misunderstood. What the letters PTSD did for me was give me words to look up and study. I also discovered other people that struggle with some of the same things I did online. I didn’t know anyone with PTSD in person, or at least not known they had PTSD, I actually felt less alone having a group to identify with. When I was firs started counseling, CPTSD didn’t exist as an option. Most of the stuff online was for military personnel which is why I started my other blog to share information for those not in the military and living with PTSD. Along came CPTSD and I had new stuff to look up that fit even better my challenges. I felt sad when people were angry, resentful, hurt, discouraged, or a whole slew of negative emotions because someone said they might have PTSD or some other letters that didn’t quite fit. They are just letters and words, things that can be looked up to start building your own healing plan. I work at a high school and students with special needs get IEP, Individual Education Plans. Well I have mental illness caused by an abusive childhood and I need an Individualized Healing Plan, IHP. No two people got damaged in the same way so to me it is logical that no two people will heal in the same way. You need to do your own home work. To help with your homework, you need things to look up. The article below has 8 different issues that are sometimes associated with CPTSD along with 16 different treatments. I am sharing not because I am stating that every person must have all these to have CPTSD, they are just words and letters to look up and add to your IHP. Years ago I listened to Dr. Banks on mental health, near as I can remember he said, “A broken finger will heal itself but not a broken soul.” Here is the article for the lists.
PTSD - Accepting, Coping, Thriving 