By Shirley Davis, CPTSD Foundation, June 17, 2019
Our brains are hardwired to react viscerally to traumatic events. They then store those emotions in our central nervous, so that when we feel and experience similar future events, we will be alerted to new potential dangers.
Emotional flashbacks, experienced by those living with complex post-traumatic stress disorder, are sudden and horrific, often prolonged, attacks from past highly traumatic events. These flashbacks are different than those experienced in ordinary post-traumatic stress disorder, as they are very intense, confusing, fear-laden attacks of sorrow, and rage that cause terror and despair.
In this is an introductory article, we shall examine together the history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and how complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) differs, specifically in how people living with either experience flashbacks.
Nostalgia and Shell Shock
To understand the differences between the diagnoses of PTSD and CPTSD, we need to understand the evolution of stress-orders and their eventual recognition by the American Psychiatric Association.
PTSD has been around as long as humans have inhabited the earth. It was inevitable that our ancestors would develop the disorder as they lived in constant threat of death. It could be that long ago post-traumatic stress disorder was adaptive, teaching us to respond quickly to situations, similar to the one that caused us to develop PTSD in the first place.
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For more information on CPTSD, including resources and materials to help in healing and living with Complex PTSD symptoms, head over to CPTSDfoundation.org.
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