Complex-ptsd Quote by Suzette Boon
““Somatic Symptoms: People with Complex PTSD often have medical unexplained physical symptoms such as abdominal pains, headaches, joint and muscle pain, stomach problems, and elimination problems. These people are sometimes most unfortunately mislabeled as hypochondriacs or as exaggerating their physical problems. But these problems are real, even though they may not be related to a specific physical diagnosis. Some dissociative parts are stuck in the past experiences that involved pain may intrude such that a person experiences unexplained pain or other physical symptoms. And more generally, chronic stress affects the body in all kinds of ways, just as it does the mind. In fact, the mind and body cannot be separated. Unfortunately, the connection between current physical symptoms and past traumatizing events is not always so clear to either the individual or the physician, at least for a while. At the same time we know that people who have suffered from serious medical, problems. It is therefore very important that you have physical problems checked out, to make sure you do not have a problem from which you need medical help.””
About This Quote
Source Article: Complex PTSD Overview, 2021
Physical symptoms in Complex PTSD often arise from trauma‑related stress, not just medical disease, and can be misdiagnosed.
In simple terms: Trauma can cause real bodily pain without clear medical cause.
Validate symptoms and seek both medical and therapeutic help.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- clinical assessment
- therapy
- patient education
- physician awareness
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can clinicians better differentiate trauma‑related pain from other illnesses?
- What self‑care strategies help manage somatic symptoms?
Symptoms may overlap with other conditions, complicating diagnosis.