Wellness

did you know that complex ptsd involves flashbacks just like regular ptsd, but usually without the visual aspect?

they’re generally emotional (like intense fear or anger) or somatic (like stomach pain, nausea, shaking), and can be as overwhelming and intense as the original trauma

what makes cptsd so brutal is how constant and pervasive the flashbacks can be. when the trauma comes from chronic abuse or neglect in childhood, that means it likely happened hundreds or thousands of times, and became wired into your entire experience of life

the triggers can be anything, often even mundane things—getting dressed, eating, bathing, getting a phone call, feeling emotions, talking, making minor errors (even a typo), getting compliments, making noise

flashbacks can keep piling on before you’ve even recovered from the last and you end up dissociating just to survive

it becomes extremely difficult to function even remotely normally in the world when your nervous system thinks you’re constantly about to die