An intense emotional response caused by the preconscious recognition that a repressed conflict is about to emerge into consciousness is the definition of ANXIETY according to the American Psychological Association, also known as the APA. People with C-PTSD commonly report having feelings of SOURCELESS ANXIETY when they are surrounded by toxic people or feel they have not been adequately protected from or validated by an Abuser.
It is common for people who have experienced trauma first hand or who have been traumatized by having born witness to a traumatic event such as Domestic Violence, violent crime, or even something as simple sounding as Workplace Bullying to feel anxiety or pervasive sourceless anxiety after a traumatizing experience or event.
Anxiety caused by C-PTSD is frequently misdiagnosed by physicians who are unaware that a patient is being abused at home, at work, at school, or by their peer group.
Children raised in toxic family environments, for instance, are commonly misdiagnosed by parents, school teachers, academic faculty members, pediatricians, therapists who are not trained to work with children who have Cluster B parents or siblings, and sometimes even young abuse victims themselves as having ADD or ADHD as a result of anxiety that manifests as something akin to being impulsive, flighty, listless, mildly depressed, or distracted. In adults exposed to toxic people on a daily basis, C-PTSD tends to form.
When it happens, many people who suffer from the condition tend to report feeling stressed out or anxious all the time without knowing how to put their finger on why. When a person is being abused, Abusers and Abuse Enablers tend to pervasively invalidate a victim’s rights while undermining their self-confidence in perception.
Using gaslighting techniques to minimize or deny abuse is happening and claiming that an abuse victim is “crazy”, “overreacting”, or “too sensitive” a toxic family or toxic peer group can seriously stress an already traumatized victim of Narcissistic Abuse to the point that they themselves develop ongoing or pervasive social anxiety, agoraphobia, or serious health conditions like ulcers, chronic fatigue, heart disease, cancer, an increased risk of heart attack or stroke, or high blood pressure.
People with extreme anxiety disorders tend to experience heightened sensations of “Fight or Flight”, typical of adrenaline junkies and those who are by nature fearful. However, stress disorders brought on by anxiety caused by interactions with toxic people do not condemn the person suffering from extreme fear, social phobia, or pervasive nervousness.
People who go low to no contact with abusive or otherwise socially toxic and abusive people tend to report a vast improvement in their condition after 18-24 months of little to no contact or social involvement with aggressors or Abuse Enablers.
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