CPTSD, Activism and Hope 04/20/22

What's the connection between C-PTSD, activism and hope? Melanie and Artemisio Romero y Carver dive into all of it in this fast-paced episode. Arte is a Chicana artist, poet, and grassroots organizer. Santa Fe Youth Poet Laureate in 2020, Arte's voice is informed, intelligent, and vibrant with hope. <p>Sharing openly about his diagnosis of CPTSD, as a result of his early childhood experiences, he and Melanie talk about the stress of living in a chaotic world with so many challenges facing his generation, including the climate crisis.</p> <p>C-PTSD, or complex PTSD, shares a lot of symptoms with PTSD, although it's different in one important aspect.</p> <p>C-PTSD can develop as a result of repeated stressful or traumatic events that happen over months or even years.</p> <p>"A recent study by the National Survey of Children's Health found that almost 50% of the children in the United States have had at least one significant traumatic experience. Even more recently, a study from 2019 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 60% of American adults report having had at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), and almost a quarter reported three or more ACEs. These numbers are even more sobering when you consider that the CDC researchers believe them to be an underestimate" (from <em>What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing</em>, Bruce Perry MD, PhD, Oprah Winfrey).</p> <p>Some common symptoms of C-PTSD include</p> <ul> <li>feeling overwhelmed,</li> <li>anxious all the time,</li> <li>having trouble sleeping,</li> <li>emotionally out of balance,</li> <li>irritable and angry and sad,</li> <li>tired, and</li> <li>hopeless.</li> </ul> <p>If you're struggling with C-PTSD, you may find relationships challenging. You might have issues feeling emotionally safe with other people, and not understand how to trust others (or yourself).</p> <p>You may avoid intimacy because you just don't understand it.</p> <p>Conflict may feel terrifying for you. Or, on the other ha