Complex post-traumatic stress disorder

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD)
Other namesDisorders of extreme stress not otherwise specified (DESNOS), enduring personality change after catastrophic experience (EPCACE)
SpecialtyPsychiatry, clinical psychology
SymptomsHyperarousal, emotional over-stress, intrusive thoughts, emotional dysregulations, hypervigilance, negative self-beliefs, interpersonal difficulties, and also often attention difficulties, anxiety, depression, somatisation, dissociation.

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD, sometimes hyphenated C-PTSD) is a stress-related mental disorder generally occurring in response to complex traumas,[1] i.e., commonly prolonged or repetitive exposures to a series of traumatic events, within which individuals perceive little or no chance to escape.[2][3][4]

In the ICD-11 classification, C-PTSD is a category of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with three additional clusters of significant symptoms: emotional dysregulations, negative self-beliefs (e.g., feelings of shame, guilt, failure for wrong reasons), and interpersonal difficulties.[5][6][3] Examples of C-PTSD's symptoms are prolonged feelings of terror, worthlessness, helplessness, distortions in identity or sense of self, and hypervigilance.[5][6][3] C-PTSD's symptoms share some similarities with the observed symptoms in borderline personality disorder, dissociative identity disorder and somatization disorder.[4][6]

There exist strong relationships between C-PTSD and repetitive adverse childhood experiences,[7][8] especially among survivors of harmful foster care.[9] In fact, the trauma model of mental disorders associates C-PTSD with chronic or repetitive: sexual, psychological, physical abuse or neglect, intimate partner violence, bullying, kidnapping and hostage situations, homelessness, frequent medical issues or long-term hospitalization, natural disasters, indentured servants, slavery or other human trafficking, sweatshop workers, prisoners of war, concentration camp survivors and solitary confinement.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cook2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brewin (2020) was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c World Health Organization (2022). "6B41 Complex post traumatic stress disorder". International Classification of Diseases, eleventh revision – ICD-11. Genova – icd.who.int.
  4. ^ a b Herman JL (30 May 1997). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-08730-3. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  5. ^ a b Brewin CR, Cloitre M, Hyland P, Shevlin M, Maercker A, Bryant RA, et al. (December 2017). "A review of current evidence regarding the ICD-11 proposals for diagnosing PTSD and complex PTSD" (PDF). Clinical Psychology Review. 58: 1–15. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2017.09.001. PMID 29029837. S2CID 4874961.
  6. ^ a b c Cloitre M (2020). "ICD-11 complex post-traumatic stress disorder: simplifying diagnosis in trauma populations". British Journal of Psychiatry. 216 (3): 129–131. doi:10.1192/bjp.2020.43. PMID 32345416. S2CID 213910628.
  7. ^ "About the CDC-Kaiser ACE Study |Violence Prevention|Injury Center|CDC". 17 March 2022.
  8. ^ Felitti, V. J.; Anda, R. F.; Nordenberg, D.; Williamson, D. F.; Spitz, A. M.; Edwards, V.; Koss, M. P.; Marks, J. S. (1998). "Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study". American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 14 (4): 245–258. doi:10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00017-8. PMID 9635069. S2CID 26055600.
  9. ^ "Trauma & Children in Foster Care: A Comprehensive Overview". Concordia St. Paul. 25 February 2021.

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