Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that can develop following exposure to a traumatic event.
Its diagnosis, recognized in the DSM 5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and Psychiatric Disorders) and the ICD 11 (Eleventh Revision of the International Classification of Diseases), is defined by specific criteria evolving for more than one month after the event.
When a traumatic event lasts for a long time or is repeated without the person being able to escape or protect him or herself, as is the case with sexual violence and abuse in childhood, harassment at school, violence in a relationship, when the person is in a state of dependency or addiction, or in war and torture, a second form of post-traumatic stress disorder can occur, called complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPSD).
According to ICD 11, in addition to the symptoms of PTSD, the person with complex PTSD has sustained and pervasive impairment in emotional, personal, and relational functioning.
Difficulties in regulating emotions; negative self-beliefs ("I suck∙le," "I'm worthless"), which are themselves associated with emotions such as shame or guilt; disruptions in relationships with others that prevent building lasting relationships.
He is even particularly vulnerable in that his level of emotional maturity is not sufficient to allow him to understand the event and to make sense of it.
For a long time, it was believed that young age was a protective factor against psychological trauma. However, recent scientific research shows that children and adolescents, like adults, can suffer psychological trauma and subsequently develop PTSD or complex PTSD.
He is even particularly vulnerable in that his level of emotional maturity is not sufficient to allow him to understand the event and to make sense of it.
The symptoms are the same as for adults (reliving, avoidance, hypervigilance) plus :
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