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1.51 POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) -- PSYCHOLOGY ABUSE TERMS, CONCEPTS

==== Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

MEANING: A delayed disorder in people who have suffered a severe sudden trauma that was either life threatening, horrific or made them feel helpless; they can suffer the consequences years later such as Vietnam war veterans who still suffer today. A prolonged difficult situation with the same but milder characteristics can also have the same effect; this is known as Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or CPTSD.

RELEVANCE TO ABUSE: The feeling of helplessness in a marriage that lasted for a number of years can cause CPTSD many years later after the marriage has ended even though the trauma did not appear to be that severe at the time. Also some abusers may be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which contributes to their abuse.

PERSONAL NOTE FROM RICK DOBLE: My father suffered PTSD from World War One. He had it his entire life and never recovered. Until the Vietnam era the general population did not understand why some soldiers could not return home and get on with their lives. My father had to live with that shame along with his PTSD. To the day he died, I would see tears fill his eyes when he talked the war. The images of death and artillery fire were as real to him at the age of 88 as they were when he was 18 in the trenches in France.

RELATED WORDS AND PHRASES: battle fatigue, shell shocked, combat fatigue, war neurosis

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