When you’re traumatized, the term “complex trauma” may feel off-putting. But what is complex trauma, exactly? And if you think you may be dealing with it yourself, where did your trauma come from, and how can you find healing? Though complex trauma may sound complicated (it does have “complex” in its description, after all), complex trauma treatment doesn’t have to be. You can, in fact, overcome your struggles, and your long-term healing is more accessible than you’d realize.
What is Complex Trauma?
Perhaps you already know what it means to be traumatized. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) describes trauma as the lasting adverse effects associated with an event or circumstance that produced physical, emotional, or life-threatening harm. These traumatic effects can adversely interfere with your functioning and mental, social, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being
But what is complex trauma? According to the American Psychological Association (APA), the definition of complex trauma refers to the effects of exposure to severe stressors that are repetitive and prolonged. These traumatic experiences usually involve harm or abandonment by caregivers or other responsible adults and typically occur at developmentally vulnerable times in your life, such as childhood or adolescence.
Complex trauma is also associated with the difficulties that arise as a result of adapting to or surviving these repetitive or traumatic experiences over and over again, shares ComplexTrauma.org. You’re more likely to develop complex trauma if the traumatic experiences occurred when you were young, involved someone close to you that you trusted, and you were unable to escape, shares NHS UK. While complex trauma often happens in your formative years, it can also occur in adulthood. Some examples of experiences that can cause complex trauma include:
- Long-term domestic violence
- War
- Being a victim of human or sex trafficking
- Long-term physical or sexual abuse in childhood
- Ongoing community violence
SOURCE: Cleveland Clinic
As you deal with traumatic events in your life over and over again, complex trauma can take its toll in various ways. If you think you may be dealing with the ongoing effects of complex trauma, there are some common symptoms that follow. Some of the main signs and symptoms of complex trauma include:
- Struggling to control your emotions
- Chronically feeling hopeless or empty
- Feeling like you’re worthless or permanently damaged
- Having anger or distrust toward the world
- Thinking no one can understand what you’re experiencing
- Feeling totally different from others
- Experiencing disassociation
- Finding relationships difficult or avoiding them altogether
- Having suicidal thoughts
- Experiencing stomach aches, chest pains, dizziness, and headaches
- Experiencing flashbacks of the traumatic event
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling on edge or hypervigilant
- Feeling emotionally numb
SOURCE: Mind.org
Understanding Secondary Trauma
While complex trauma directly impacts you as the victim, its ripple effects can hurt others, too. If you’re struggling with complex trauma yourself, people in close relational proximity to you — such as your friends and loved ones — can experience ensuing trauma as a result. This type of trauma is called secondary trauma, and it involves the indirect experience or exposure to a traumatic event that happened to someone else.
Hearing a firsthand account of a traumatic event from a survivor can result in secondary trauma, for example, shares PTSD UK. Directly caring for someone struggling with complex trauma can also lead to secondary trauma. And, like direct complex trauma, secondary trauma itself can be traumatic and emotionally challenging. So if you’re reading this as a loved one of a trauma survivor, it’s important that you seek your own care for the secondary trauma you may be experiencing, too.
The Difference Between PTSD and Complex Trauma
Complex PTSD is another name for complex trauma. However complex trauma and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) are not one in the same, though they do have some similarities. The difference between PTSD and complex trauma involves the length of the traumatic experience, as well as your symptoms, shares the Cleveland Clinic.
It’s traditionally believed that PTSD arises from a short-term traumatic event, such as a vehicular accident or robbery. On the other hand, complex PTSD arises from experiencing a repetitive, long-term traumatic event. And if you’ve experienced complex PTSD, your symptoms may look slightly different from those of traditional PTSD. While you may struggle with flashbacks and hypervigilance, your complex trauma can also cause:
- Relationship issues
- Struggles with your sense of self and identity
- Emotional regulation challenges
What Trauma Does to the Brain: The Source of Complex Trauma
If you can relate to the experiences of complex trauma above, it’s fair to wonder how you arrived at this crossroads. While you may have come to terms with the traumatic events that caused your trauma, the reason how and why they’re still impacting you today could remain a mystery. Why does complex trauma affect you so much? The answer lies at the intersection of trauma and the brain.
When trauma happens to you, outwardly you may experience common trauma response types, such as fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Inwardly, however, your brain is responding to trauma in various ways, too. Your brain’s amygdala, responsible for threat detection, goes into overdrive. Before long, everyday experiences are perceived as a potential danger, even the ones you used to perceive as safe. Consequently, you may feel constantly on edge or jumpy.
Your memory can also be harmed as a result of how trauma affects the brain. As trauma interferes with your hippocampus, the area of your brain that organizes and stores memories, you may have a hard time recalling memories, especially those of traumatic events. Your body’s nervous system can also get thrown out of sorts as a result of trauma. You may suffer from chronic stress, causing unexplained pain, tension, digestive issues, or fatigue, shares the Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA). You also may continue to experience prolonged trauma response types as your autonomic nervous system struggles to reset.
These behind-the-scenes challenges can cause you to feel the lingering effects of trauma well after the event (or events) subsides. And because complex trauma often occurs in childhood when your brain is still forming, it can damage your brain development, leading to physical and mental well-being issues as an adult. This may lead you to struggle to regulate your emotions when difficulties arise, or get overwhelmed and anxious more easily, shares NHS Wales.
The Impact of Untreated Complex Trauma
When you consider your complex trauma struggles, the idea of exploring what’s going on beneath the surface or getting professional help may seem uncomfortable. But if you leave your complex trauma unaddressed, it can cause you additional challenges over time. For starters, what trauma does to the brain can leave you more susceptible to developing mental health disorders. You may experience generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and even panic attacks due to the lingering effects of complex trauma, shares Neuropsychiatry Journal. Depression may follow as you struggle with emotional numbness, as well as low self-esteem and self-worth.
Complex trauma and addiction often go hand-in-hand as well, especially as mental health disorders are added into the mix. Because you have trouble regulating your emotions, you may have a harder time dealing with the everyday effects of your trauma or mental health challenges. This could drive you to self-medicate as a way to cope and numb yourself.
Self-medication often looks like using various substances, such as drugs or alcohol, to generate good feelings. Yet these substances only provide temporary relief, so you have to use them over and over again. In time, however, you can develop a tolerance for these substances, which may lead to dependency and addiction. That means you may struggle with both complex PTSD and substance abuse at the same time.
Healing From Complex Trauma: Complex Trauma Treatment
If you’re struggling with complex trauma, it’s important to address it before your situation gets worse. Fixing your complex trauma sounds complicated, but there is a simple solution: getting professional help. Though it’s not something accomplished overnight, by partnering with the right treatment center, you can experience lasting healing from complex trauma. Recovery doesn’t have to keep evading you.
At Defining Wellness Centers in Mississippi, we make complex trauma treatment accessible and available. Our evidence-based treatment programs and holistic therapies are rooted in trauma-informed care. That means we understand the trauma you’ve experienced, and we take a compassionate approach to healing it as a result. Our programs provide a safe, empowering, and culturally sensitive environment for you to overcome your trauma and build resilience.
We also offer dual diagnosis treatment programs for you to address any co-occurring disorders you may be experiencing, such as addiction and mental health challenges, in addition to your trauma. With our help, you can find comprehensive healing all in one place. To learn more about your treatment options, contact us today.