What is Complex PTSD?

• Card 1

  Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) is a term used to describe a cluster of difficulties that can develop after repeated or prolonged traumatic experiences — often ones where escape felt difficult or impossible, such as ongoing childhood adversity, domestic abuse, captivity, trafficking, or long-term neglect. It was formally added to the World Health Organization's ICD-11 in 2019 as a diagnosis distinct from, but related to, PTSD.

• Card 2

  The word 'complex' does not mean 'more severe' or 'more complicated to deal with.' It refers to the nature of the trauma itself — repeated and prolonged, often relational, often beginning early in life — and to the wider range of effects it can have beyond the core features of PTSD.

  This page is educational. Only a qualified professional — such as a GP, psychiatrist or clinical psychologist — can assess or diagnose C-PTSD, PTSD, or any other mental health condition. Recognising yourself in a description here is not the same as having that diagnosis.

• Card 3

  According to the ICD-11, C-PTSD involves the core features of PTSD, plus difficulties in three further areas

  • Emotional regulation — big feelings that arrive fast, or numbness that makes feelings hard to reach at all
  • Self-concept — persistent beliefs of being worthless, defeated, or diminished, often carrying shame or guilt
  • Relationships — difficulty feeling close to others, or sustaining closeness once it's there

  Complex trauma responses are not a character flaw. They are a nervous system and a set of beliefs that adapted to survive something difficult, and haven't yet been told it's safe to stand down.

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