(Complex PTSD has not yet been included in the DSM.) It is distinguished from the more familiar type of PTSD in which the trauma is specific and defined because of the prolonged nature of the trauma, Complex PTSD can be even more virulent and pervasively damaging in its effects. Such as happens in extremely dysfunctional families. "a history of subjection to totalitarian control" As described by leading trauma theorist Judith Herman (Trauma and Recovery) and renowned PTSD researcher Bessel van der Kolk,Ĭomplex PTSD is caused by "prolonged, repeated trauma" and
But when the caretakers turn their backs on such cries for help, the child is left to cope with a nightmarish inner world-the stuff of which emotional flashbacks are made.īecause of this, emotional flashbacks can best be understood as the key symptom of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a syndrome afflicting many adults who experienced ongoing abuse or neglect in childhood.Įmotional flashbacks can best be understood as the key symptom of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a syndrome afflicting many adults who experienced ongoing abuse or neglect in childhood. Children are wired to feel scared when left alone, and to cry and protest to alert their caretakers when they are. I think about how humans were hunter-gatherers for most of our time on this planet-the child's survival and safety from predators during the first six years of life during these times depended on being in very close proximity to an adult. Such trauma victims learned early in life that no matter how hurt, alienated, or terrified they were, turning to a parent would actually exacerbate their experience of rejection.The child who is abandoned in this way experiences the world as a terrifying place. No one cared about what they thought, felt, did, wanted, or dreamed of.
No one had empathy for them, showed them warmth, or invited closeness. No one liked them, welcomed them, or listened to them. Over time, however, I realized that these individuals had suffered extreme emotional neglect: the kind of neglect where no caretaker was ever available for support, comfort or protection. Emotional Neglect - A Primary Cause Of Complex PTSD? ~ Pete WalkerĮarly on in working with this model, I was surprised that a number of clients with moderate and sometimes minimal sexual or physical childhood abuse were plagued by emotional flashbacks.
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