Life after Trauma: Complex PTSD

Life after Trauma: Complex PTSD
Excerpt:
Judith Lewis Herman's book, Trauma and Recovery, is a landmark book. I don't use this term lightly...
Introduction 
In most books, you can skip the introduction. However, I suggest that you read Herman's introduction. It's brief and clear about why we should be interested in trauma. Herman argues that, "Remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for the restoration of the social order and for the healing of individual victims." (p. 1) She then goes on to describe the conflict that is at the heart of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: "the conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma." And that's just on page one! 
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Stages of Recovery
As important as the first part of Herman's book is, the part that glued me to the page was the stages that trauma survivors must pass through in order to successfully recover from PTSD. (Caveat: to recover doesn't mean that people who have experienced significant trauma will return to their pre-trauma state. It means, rather, that the survivor will be able to reconnect with others both on the individual level and on the community level.) 
Safety
The first, and most important stage, is that the survivor must be safe...
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...Keeping things inside doesn't help. I talk to my therapist, several close friends, and my husband. They don't have answers, but they don't judge me either, and they provide me with much needed compassion. But BE CAREFUL, don't talk to people who judge you or tell you things like, "just get over it." Avoid those sorts of people like the plague.
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My Note:
There is a destruction of 'trust' in all societal systems by many. There is a destruction of 'fight' also as a jamming survival mode sets in.  Some are not able to overcome the shattering effects of living a lifetime of this.  It can never be done alone.  Never.