I have realized this more and more since I thought I could have PTSD from emotional abuse because of my family but now that I do suffer from PTSD due to sexual assault, I experience a lot of different symptoms than I did before, as my new symptoms are from “classic” PTSD. Complex PTSD is not an official diagnosis sadly so if this is what you think is going on, you will probably have to find a specific therapist that knows about this issue as not all Ts know about C-PTSD.

I do believe though that my emotional abuse has caused a lot of my anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, attachment issues, boundary issues, all of which are painful and very real. Just because a diagnosis doesn’t include this type of abuse doesn’t mean it’s less painful. I have found this quite painful. Please talk to someone about this though. It has helped me realized that how I act isn’t my fault. I still think that from time to time but not as often. My T is helping me work on the issues caused by emotional abuse because sadly you can’t change a person (ie family to be non-abusive).

Stay strong.