Typical CPTSD Life Experiences

No life is the same. But there are a lot of shared experiences spawned by untreated Complex Trauma.
Here are a few of the things that come up regularly.

Similar to the last graphic lesson, Common CPTSD Symptoms, you see that there are logical reasons why we wind up in our circumstances.

An adaptive thought, belief, or behavioral pattern goes off the rails with enough time and repeat evidence that it’s “correct.” Without social support and corrective experiences to show us otherwise, we run on the knowledge we’ve got to work with.. and wind up with less than ideal results. Plus, there are many aspects of “normal life” that have similarities to our original t-events, creating “extreme responses” that others might not understand. (and lets be real, they don’t always try).

The important news is; we can understand ourselves.

If we understand why our life experiences have unfolded, we can figure out what underlying narrative / behavior we need to pay attention to and change. We don’t have to continue living lives that baffle us and create additional shame. 

For example:

A typical experience I left out. Agoraphobia.

Fearing that you’ll be judged, ridiculed, or somehow harmed based on prior social experience, you become generally stressed by crowds, strangers, or public places, When you find that these routine aspects of life are triggering and destabilizing, you avoid them. When left alone with our own brains, these beliefs/behaviors deepen and expand. “I don’t go to that grocery store,” becomes “I don’t go to any grocery store,” becomes “I get everything delivered.” Each step is a move towards increasing your sense of safety and comfort… unfortunately, creating rigid self-limiting rules obfuscated by anxieties that degrade your experience as a functional human.

A rightful initial assessment that “people can be frightening,” becomes a life-impacting behavioral pattern that’s wrapped up in a diagnosable disorder. Sure, we can CBT our way through leaving the house, but is that treating the root of the problem? 

Newp. That’s where understanding your history and the way your brain has adapted to it comes into play. 

Whether we have the exact same origin stories or not, there are oft-seen patterns we share.

Part of the “community healing” we do together is speaking to these realizations of the roots of our life outcomes so far… and then working to change them.

Finding out you “aren’t the only one who went through this, maybe multiple times” is powerful. Realizing there are narratives in the ol brain box that explain them all?

Is life altering.

Find self-comprehension, find self-acceptance, find a new way of living.

Now let’s take this self-understanding even deeper. Join me in the Triggers and Parts by Neuroscience graphic when you have the spoons to rethink everything.