It's likely you may already be familiar with PTSD. You may know it as the condition that affects war veterans and survivors of car accidents, natural disasters, and isolated acts of violence. Complex PTSD, however, is specific to severe, repetitive trauma that typically happens in childhood - most often abuse.  On the surface, it may seem like PTSD and Complex PTSD are none too dissimilar -- they both come as the result of something deeply traumatic, they cause flashbacks, nightmares and insomnia, and they can make people live in fear even when they are safe. But at the very heart of C-PTSD - what causes it, how it manifests internally, the lifelong effects (including medically), and its ability to reshape a person's entire outlook on life - is what makes it considerably different...