Dissociation, Affect Dysregulation & Somatization: the complex nature of adaptation to trauma.

David Baldwin's Trauma Information, Articles:
Van der Kolk, Pelcovitz, Roth, Mandel, McFarlane & Herman (1996)

Dissociation, Affect Dysregulation & Somatization: the complex nature of adaptation to trauma.

This paper originally appeared in the American Journal of Psychiatry, 153(7), Festschrift Supplement, 83-93.

This article reports results from the DSM-IV Field Trial for PTSD demonstrating a complex PTSD syndrome in people traumatized at an early age, or suffering from prolonged interpersonal trauma. Dissociation, somatization, and affect dysregulation represent a chronic adaptation to emotional trauma, and characterize complex PTSD (e.g., DESNOS). Clinicians should understand how complex trauma must be treated differently from acute or 'simple' PTSD. The authors discuss implications for treatment and for PTSD diagnostic criteria. Includes four tables and about 90 references. "