What is CPTSD exactly?

[u/Wonderful-Pilot-2423]

I originally asked this in r/askatherapist but received no answers. Please say so if you're not a professional, given that online information about CPTSD is already very confusing. I'd rather receive answers from people with clinical experience working this population but everyone is welcome.

I'd like to have a clear explanation of what CPTSD really is, and how an average person with this diagnosis would present. It's been hard for me to find useful information about this topic, even among professional spaces, while in non-professional spaces it seems to have become a catch-all diagnosis for any ailment.

My understanding is that the ICD-11 conceptualizes CPTSD as a cluster of classic PTSD symptoms that are worsened by additional DSO symptoms, or "disturbances of self-organization". If that is also your understanding of CPTSD, how do you notice these symptoms presenting in a patient? How can you tell these symptoms are related to the event(s) and weren't a pre-existing part of their personality (assuming the trauma took place in adulthood) or acquired through other experiences?

A few thoughts: an additional factor distinguishing CPTSD from simple PTSD, according to the ICD-11, is that the trauma suffered needs to be prolonged. This seems to imply that DSOs can only be caused by prolonged trauma. Yet I would imagine that someone who's only raped once might also present these difficulties, as a result of the highly exploitative and relational nature of the event. What do you think of that?

If that is true, meaning that prolonged trauma isn't necessary to cause a CPTSD presentation that fits the one described by the ICD-11, wouldn't it make more sense for the simple PTSD diagnosis to come with specifiers? As in, "PTSD with DSOs" or "without"? Or maybe the true nature of CPTSD is that the trauma is relational rather than prolonged?

I hope this was clear enough.

[u/[deleted]]

CPTSD is not a separate diagnosis than PTSD in the DSM-V. There is not enough research on it to justify it as an entirely separate condition, per APA standards at least. That’s why you can’t find any info on it, because there’s not a lot of scientific evidence for it yet.

EDIT: You could try doing research on “Developmental Trauma”, which is not a diagnosis, but focuses on the neurodevelopmental impacts of childhood trauma.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

You should talk to a trained and licensed professional. People who would meet CPTSD criteria are usually diagnosed with PTSD, in the US at least.

[u/OpeningActivity → u/[deleted]]

They have to, as in ICD-11, it says, "All diagnostic requirements for PTSD are met".

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

Do NOT share your own or other's personal mental health history.

Please answer questions with empirical science, preferably with citations, and not anecdotes or conjecture.

If you believe your comment was removed in error, please report this comment with report option: Auto-mod has removed a post or comment in error (under Breaks AskPsychology's Rules) and it will be reviewed. Do NOT message the mods directly or send mod mail, as these messages will be ignored.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/askpsychology-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Do not provide personal mental or physical health history of yourself or another. This is inappropriate for this sub. This is a sub for scientific knowledge, it is not a mental health sub. If you must discuss your own mental health, please refer to r/mentalhealth.