7 Key Symptoms of CPTSD (Complex PTSD Signs You Should Know)

I recently wrote about the difference between CPTSD and PTSD, how CPTSD often includes the symptoms of PTSD plus additional layers tied to long-term, repeated trauma. It’s not just the flashbacks and fear. It’s the ripple effects that bleed into your sense of self, your relationships, your nervous system… even your hope.

Here’s a breakdown of the main symptom categories of CPTSD and what they can actually feel like in everyday life.

1. Reliving the Trauma

This includes intrusive thoughts/memories, flashbacks, or nightmares. The past doesn’t stay in the past; it shows up uninvited, often through triggers you didn’t see coming.

2. Avoidance and Emotional Numbing

You learn to steer clear of anything that might make you feel, people, places, topics, sometimes even your own body. It’s not about being cold or distant. It’s about surviving the only way you know how.

3. Hyperarousal

You’re constantly on edge. Waiting for something to go wrong. You may startle easily, have trouble sleeping, or feel unable to relax even in “safe” spaces.

4. Negative Self-Perception

Deep shame, guilt, and self-blame are common. You might feel broken, unlovable, or like you’re fundamentally flawed.

5. Emotional Dysregulation

Big emotions. Sudden crashes. Or… nothing at all. You swing between overwhelm and numbness, often without warning.

6. Distorted Relationships

You may crave closeness but also push people away. Trust feels risky. Abandonment feels inevitable. Welcome to a life of disorganized attachment.

7. Hopelessness and Helplessness

CPTSD can steal your sense of agency. It makes the future feel foggy. Or worse, like it’s already over before it starts.

What Now?

If you’re reading through this and thinking, “Wait… this feels like me,” I want you to know you’re not alone.

CPTSD is often misunderstood, even by professionals, because it doesn’t always come from one big, obvious event. It comes from a thousand small ones. It’s the slow drip of fear, the long haul of not feeling safe, seen, or protected. And over time, your brain and body just did what they had to do to get you through it.

These symptoms? They’re not flaws. Or who you are. They’re responses. Adaptations. Survival skills that kicked in when you needed them most.

But you don’t have to stay in survival mode forever. It’s possible to heal. To soften. To feel safe in your own skin again. Even if it’s slow. Messy. And even if you’re still figuring it out.

If you’re looking for next steps or support, I’ve put together a resource page with books, hotlines, and healing tools that helped me; maybe they’ll help you too.

Photo by Nadiia Ploshchenko 🇺🇦 on Unsplash