Stephanie Foo, an award-winning radio producer, suffers from complex post-traumatic stress disorder, a disorder that in her country (the US) “doesn’t officially exist”. In her new book, What My Bones Know, Foo writes movingly about what it’s like to live with complex PTSD and her long journey to getting a diagnosis.
Earlier this year, the American Psychiatric Association released the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM – the so-called psychiatrists’ bible. The manual, first published in 1952, is used worldwide to diagnose, treat and research mental health conditions. But it does not recognise complex PTSD as a distinct diagnosis. Many experts, however, do recognise that complex PTSD is a disorder in its own right.
Before we talk about complex PTSD, let’s look at what “standard” PTSD is.
