Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

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The general public normally associates Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with people who have been involved in or affected by military combat.  PTSD is described in our Fellowship text on page 12 as follows: “A PTSD event or events produce such a high state of threat or danger that experts believe it changes the body chemistry. Long after the threat has passed, the PTSD sufferer remains on “alert” to ward off future events that could retrigger the fear of the previous fearful event.”

A high percentage of Adult Children who grew up in dysfunctional families dealt with our own brand of war zones where we were subjected to frequent, sometimes daily, traumatic events.  This type of on-going trauma is generally referred to as Complex PTSD or C-PTSD.  Many Adult Children are constantly on the alert, surveying our environment - whether we are doing it consciously or unconsciously.  This keeps us from living our life fully.  We act out the Laundry List Traits.

Whether your trauma experiences were ongoing or not, you can find a home in ACA with those of us who have similar life stories.