Complex PTSD: A Review in Etiology, Diagnosis, Symptom and Treatment

Abstract

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) is a severe trauma-related disorder that affects people’s daily function, and causes extreme damage to individuals’ selfconcept, emotional regulation and social relationships. CPTSD was included in ICD-11 in 2019. However, currently the public lacks cognition of CPTSD, and CPTSD is rarely used in actual diagnosis and treatment. Many patients cannot realize that their depression or anxiety are related to prolonged or laten trauma events and thus cannot achieve enough effective and comprehensive treatment progress. Therefore, this article reviews the recent researches on CPTSD, and summarizes the symptom, etiology and treatment of CPTSD. The diagnosis of CPTSD requires patients meet all core symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and have disturbances in selforganization (DSO). The etiology of CPTSD mainly due to prolonged and multiple trauma events, and is contributed with childhood physical or emotional maltreatment, lack of benevolent childhood experience and stress in social relationships. CPTSD can be treated by trauma-focused treatment and enhanced skills in affective and interpersonal regulation (ESTAIR). Both PTSD symptom and DSO symptom should be given due attention in treatment process.