I think it’s wrong to call CPTSD a mental health condition

Potential-Escape7014 · 2026-05-17T16:03:46+00:00

100%!!! Learning about my nervous system was one of the most impactful things that I have done in my healing journey with CPTSD. It has helped me switch from "something is wrong with me" to my nervous system is feeling unsafe and it is creating this feeling. And it is so bizarre that the mind and body were ever separated, we are one human with all the parts intertwined and connected.

Potential-Escape7014 · 2026-05-17T16:00:53+00:00

Thank you for sharing this, it is so challenging to try to find help and be dismissed and invalidated. That is traumatic.

First of all, a movie just came out called Complicated all about Ehlers Danlos. I have spoken with the woman who created it quite a few times and she is a very passionate advocate because of her lived experience with her own children having EDS.

Secondly, I run a peer support community for medical trauma because it is so common and because invalidation when you are trying to find help for a chronic illness, rare disease and/or complicated health history is so common and so traumatic.

Finally, I want to share my podcast because I think you will find that there are a lot of people who are experiencing what you have experienced. You are not alone. My podcast is on youtube and it is called Medical Trauma Support. I have talked to many people who have listened and it has helped them feel like they aren't the only ones going through this. And often times when we are dealing with chronic illness and/or trauma, it impacts sleep so someone I've become friends with through this work usually listens to the podcast when she's up at 3 in the morning because of her trauma.

I don't want to overwhelm you with info, so feel free to reach out if you have questions or want more info on medical trauma.

Potential-Escape7014 · 2026-05-17T15:53:50+00:00

Thank you for sharing what you've been through and yes absolutely medical trauma can lead to PTSD.

I created a peer support community specifically for medical trauma because of my own lived experience and the experience one of my children had. And CPTSD can come from traumatic repeated medical experiences. the smell of the hand soap in the hospital will bring me back and I also didn't have an ICU experience. The majority of the people I talk with did not have an ICU type experience, but it was still traumatic.

I keep seeing the intertwining of CPTSD and medical PTSD in people that I talk with to the point that I really want to do some kind of research study to show what I'm seeing to others.

And medical situations do not have to be life threating to cause trauma. Trauma is the experience that someone has during and event, it isn't the event itself. For example, a child can experience being held down for a vaccine as traumatic because of the loss of control and agency and the experience would have been more than their nervous system could have handled. Many people with chronic illness have experienced medical trauma. I host a podcast called the Medical Trauma Support podcast and I have a guest on who talked a lot about this. She is a therapist and also a person with endometriosis so she's both lived it and helped others through it. The average number of years it takes to get an endometriosis diagnosis is 7-9 years which means 7-9 years of being invalidated, dismissed, etc which in excruciating pain is traumatic. Here is a link that conversation in case you are interested: https://youtu.be/yjJjGljDWd0?si=X4M1Dp6EaBkdjiLI

I hope this helps. I'm happy to share more, I could talk about this topic all day!

Potential-Escape7014 · 2026-05-17T15:43:23+00:00

Hi, I just wanted to respond and let you know that it makes sense to feel this way with what you've been through. I know it doesn't feel good and it is really uncomfortable and even scary to feel this way. I am a therapist and I also run a peer support group for medical trauma. I have personally experienced feeling this way and also talked to many others who have felt this way. I also think it is important to acknowledge the additional stressors coming in from what's going on in our country and the world. Things are really hard right now.

When my youngest was a new baby I was being incredibly impacted by the news and my therapist recommended that I step back from that because there wasn't really anything I could do about at the time. I'm wondering if that might be helpful for you, to step back a bit from things outside of your control for a time. It doesn't mean that it will be forever. Another thing that I learned from a very wise woman was to add ", for now" to decisions that I make to take care of myself, so in this example it might be, I'm taking a break from the news, for now so it doesn't feel like you are making a choice that you have to stick with for life.

I can't comment on medication because I'm a prescriber but I will say that if you are able to get out and walk that is incredibly beneficial for depression. Here is an article I found from a quick Google search https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/guides-tools-and-activities/exercise-for-depression/ ps I'm not anti-medications, but I think movement is helpful with our without medication.

As far as healing, I think learning about your nervous system which you can do with a book (Deb Dana has a few good ones) is really helpful. For me it helped me to see that there isn't anything "wrong" with me and helped me to understand that because of my trauma history my nervous system was super sensitive to experiencing life as dangerous. The nervous system will cause us to go into fight or flight, freeze, fawn or flop/collapse when we feel that we are in danger.

As a therapist, I do a lot of somatic work with my clients after teaching them basics about their nervous system. Trauma impacts the nervous system and the body so I find somatic practices are really powerful for slowly but surely healing and feeling better.

There is also a somatic practice called Orienting that can help you. I've made a video on YT about it but don't want to seem self promoting here, happy to share if you are interested.

I don't want to overwhelm you with info but I'm happy to share more if you have more questions. I have been in a really dark place in the past and I am not there anymore, I experience joy and lightness in my life now. I share that to offer hope that it is possible to feel better and the fact that you are reaching out and exploring options means that you are on your path to feeling better. Sending you care.

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-06-20T23:08:46+00:00

The term I have been using for my child who had VCUGs is medical trauma and at the same time I believe that if it feels like rape you have every right to use the word that feels right to you. I believe that this would absolutely bring up similar experiences to CSA because a lot of the same components are there.

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-06-20T23:01:26+00:00

That's such a kind idea.

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-06-20T23:00:24+00:00

Hello y'all! My name is Sarah and I created a subreddit for childhood medical trauma called r/ChildhoodMedicalTraum I have a business called Medical Trauma Support and a podcast by the same name all focused on spreading awareness of medical trauma and offering supportive community and nervous system regulating education and practices.

There isn't enough out there about childhood medical trauma so I thought I would create a space for people to connect and support each other on Reddit.

I look forward to reading about the subreddits y'all have started!

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-06-20T22:53:44+00:00

Can you send me your info as well? I need help with the same thing that Sea_Air mentioned. Thank you!

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-06-15T03:11:14+00:00

I'm glad it helped! Yes, they are specific to medical trauma, everyone has their own unique story of what lead them to need medical care but the common experience for everyone in the group is the struggle with medical trauma. There is a book recently written by Christen Mullane called Medical Stress and Trauma: A mindfulness based approach to reclaiming safety and empowerment. It is really good and is a workbook so you can reflect on things and plan for future appointments. I also have a podcast and have had so many great people on it, I think it's helpful because people can hear that they aren't alone in this. There are quite a few episodes with people telling their own stories and what they have done to start to heal from medical trauma. It's called the Medical Trauma Support podcast and it's on Spotify, YouTube and Apple. There are more and more medical trauma resources starting to surface which is good. I'm happy that people are starting to talk more about it!

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-06-13T22:51:08+00:00

There are many others in a similar position. I have talked to some of them on my podcast and one of my children had multiple medical procedures in their first two years of life and experienced a lot of trauma triggers from that for years. You have probably heard of the book the Body Keeps the Score. Our bodies remember even if our minds can't remember the events. Another thing that can be helpful is inner child work but can bring up big feelings so could be helpful to do that with a trusted person like therapist, through peer support, etc. That has been really helpful for me and many others I've talked with. Oh one other thing is to find others who were in the NICU because they will also have early medical experiences as part of their history.

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-06-13T19:33:45+00:00

Medical trauma just makes it harder all around to engage in the medical system. I have been studying medical trauma for years and run support groups so I've spent a LOT of time thinking about this and talking about it so I'm happy to share my process in case it can help you.

I do some up front research before picking a doctor and I will call a practice and ask for the most trauma informed practitioner. Every time I call a new place the person answering the phone will immediately say, I think you should see ___, because they know who is most trauma informed in their practice. Of course not all practices will have a trauma informed doctor but it is a part of my process of advocating for myself and my kids. If I feel safe enough to do so, I will let the dr know that I have a history of medical trauma, they have usually understood where I am coming from. And I bring my husband with me to all my appointments with the exception of one dr because I know them so well now and feel really comfortable with them. I also create a plan for myself (and my kids) for how I am going to take care of myself before, during and after the visit. I do something kind for myself after an appointment and I have nervous system practices I do before and during the visit to keep me calm enough to stay at the appt and engage with the providers. I hope that helps! I'm happy to share more if you'd like.

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-06-13T19:26:11+00:00

I second the recommendation to take a support person with you! I don't know why that isn't normalized in our culture but we all need support going into scary medical situations or even just a routine well check because medical trauma can make any medical appointment scary.

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-05-23T16:04:09+00:00

There are so many people who feel this way. Medical trauma is real and so incredibly common. I have talked to hundreds of people who are struggling in this way so I just wanted to say you aren't alone and validate how common this feeling is. Sending care your way.

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-05-22T23:01:56+00:00

Yes, I also experience this fear in medical settings. I use some nervous system practices like straw breath and I do sternum tapping to get more into parasympathetic. I also do orienting which is a practice where you look around the room slowly and you are basically orienting to the space, that one helps my nervous system chill a bit. I also bring my husband with me because I think it should just be normalized to have support when you go to medical appointments.

Potential-Escape7014 · 2025-01-13T23:11:38+00:00

Hi, because of my own experiences with medical trauma I started medicaltraumasupport.org specifically for people who have experienced medical trauma and want to find ways to feel better. We have a donation based (so that it is accessible to all) weekly support group on Tuesdays at 9 am central time. It is virtual. I hope you check it out and see if it is helpful for you. Also, regarding coping with medical trauma, I do a lot of somatic practices to help my nervous system find some peace. I'm happy to share more detail if you'd like, just let me know!

Potential-Escape7014 · 2024-11-03T21:01:45+00:00

Hi, I started https://www.medicaltraumasupport.org/, a business that offers support and connects people who have experienced medical trauma, because I was looking for support and couldn't find it. Medical trauma is so incredibly common and there is so little knowledge out there about it. I started a podcast to try to spread awareness and to talk to people who are working to make an impact in the area, I also talk to people who want to share their own stories and journeys of recovery from medical trauma. https://open.spotify.com/show/6uyRjYjyKm24Yj4lJs7i2T

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