Echoes of Survival From Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Key points
Recognizing our childhood strategies used for managing CPTSD is a first step in healing.
Many of us continue using those early strategies until we work to make them more conscious.
With more awareness comes the possibility of more choices, including choosing healthier relationships in adulthood.
Adults with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) learned very well as children what it meant to “not need” anything—to be self-reliant and self-sufficient. These children also learned to be extremely “other-focused” in order to scrape together any semblance of support or belonging. Sometimes referred to as being characteristics of “people-pleasers,” or “co-dependents,” they were originally brilliant child strategies for survival in a hostile environment.
