david.perlIve been reading a lot recently on trauma and PTSD. Ive noticed the term “complex PTSD” appear more and more. Apparently it was first coined by Judith Herman in her book Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence. Ive just finished it and can highly recommend it.
Complex PTSD is defined as:
Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) is a condition that results from chronic or long-term exposure to emotional trauma over which a victim has little or no control and from which there is little or no hope of escape, such as in cases of:
domestic emotional, physical or sexual abuse
childhood emotional, physical or sexual abuse
entrapment or kidnapping.
slavery or enforced labor.
long term imprisonment and torture
repeated violations of personal boundaries.
long-term objectification.
exposure to gaslighting & false accusations
long-term exposure to inconsistent, push-pull, splitting or alternating raging & hoovering behaviors.
long-term taking care of mentally ill or chronically sick family members.
long term exposure to crisis conditions.
I was struck by this quote elsewhere “obsessive/compulsive disorder, which is sometimes more accurately described as an excessive, fixated flight response to trauma”.
As we all know, limerence has a strong linkage to OCD. I am wondering if limerence is another way of having a fixated flight response to trauma? . Ive described limerence as the mother of all distractions. Distraction from what? For me, it was early life abuse and trans-generational trauma.
I wonder if us limerents have a higher than average amount of traumatic experiences in early life?
