![]() People don’t know the inner battle I face daily. It takes multiple visits with doctors, etc. I’m always completely exhausted.” - Samantha D. But the nightmares always wake me up in a state of anxiety, making me never feel rested. “Emotional flashbacks, when I react to something in the present like it’s one of the many traumas I went through in the past… Disturbing nightmares, they’re not always about the past traumas I’ve gone through though. But I recently lost it, so I’m not coping so well right now.” - Zafreen J. I have a hypoallergenic teddy bear to help with nighttime terrors, and some people make fun of me for this because ‘adults shouldn’t have teddy bears.’ During the day I have my Mickey Mouse squishy, which helps ground me. “I have woken up with nightmares or flashbacks, or ‘what if situations,’ and gone into full anxiety. Even people I care about, because I don’t trust that they will blame what happened to me instead of blaming me like it’s somehow all my fault… like something is wrong with me.” - Wendy M. I have a very hard time trusting anyone enough to relate these things to. I have chronic nightmares, so my body is always on alert, even when I’m sleeping. We asked members of The Mighty’s PTSD community to fill us in on some of the “habits” of people living with complex PTSD. However, it’s important to remind ourselves there is hope and you aren’t alone. You feel trapped in a cycle chronic trauma helped create and internalize these “habits” as aspects of your nature that aren’t “normal.” Some days living with complex PTSD might not feel like life at all to you. Anxiety and panic attacks may plague your existence. Nightmares might haunt your dreams and flashbacks of repressed memories might darken your waking life. You might feel a sense of hopelessness and a loss of faith in the future, as well as humanity. ![]() You might feel like your home is your safe place and isolate yourself because you feel like you can’t trust anyone else. ![]() Imagine feeling in control of your body but out of control when it comes to your mind. Whereas PTSD reflects a disorder that derives from a short-lived traumatic experience like a car accident or sexual assault, C-PTSD stems from instances of ongoing chronic trauma like domestic violence, being held in captivity or ongoing childhood physical/sexual abuse. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder, or C-PTSD, is the result of prolonged exposure to trauma.
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