Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm told PTSD is having traumatic events replay over and over - but what if it's not a single event - what if it's an entire lifetime's abuse and bullying that is constantly being triggered and replaying over and over - is that the same thing? Is there a measure of intensity? Do you just get used to it? What is the qualifier?
I know there’s something called c-ptsd which means complex post traumatic stress disorder I haven’t read up on it at all really but the small snippets I have read to me suggest it’s something caused by a series of small events on someone’s life built up over time causing stress rather than something massive happening very quickly like a kidnapping or NDE or going to war if you know what I mean
Yes, that's right, but my understanding is that it's not about 'small' events, it's about repeated traumatic events over time which ultimately impact on a person's ability to function well.
There is a therapy called EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy) which apparently has had success in treating some PTSD. I think the theory is the brain hasn't properly processed the memory of the experience and once it has, the impact of that experience lessens.
Given the way our Neanderthal brains still work, If an experience has been traumatic it makes sense the brain wouldn't want that filed away and I think this is what the EMDR is meant to do.
A complication is that people with an ASD are apparently more 'suceptible' to trauma because of how our brains process information anyway and it doesn't help that we have no filters so our brains are taking in absolutely everything from our environment all at once.