Piece of Mind: Mental Health & Psychiatry · Piece of Mind: Mental Health & Psychiatry

Episode 14: Recognising complex PTSD

·49 min·3 clips

Michael says childhood neglect can leave trauma hardwired into the brain.

The National Centre for Mental Health frames the podcast as part of its research and public-facing work from Cardiff University. Catherine Hopkins hosts the discussion and welcomes Professor John Bisson and Michael Davitt to speak about complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Bisson is introduced as a practicing psychiatrist, a clinical professor in psychiatry at Cardiff University, and the founder of the Traumatic Stress Research Group. Davitt is introduced as an author who writes about mental health and has published five books under his author pseudonym Lucy. The conversation starts with the basics of complex PTSD and what it means in real life. It stays close to the gap between clinical language and the damage people actually carry. Davitt brings his own experience of trauma and how it shaped his sense of self. He talks about the loneliness that comes from feeling unlike other children. The discussion returns to shame, fear of abandonment, and self-blame. Bisson helps frame those feelings as part of the condition rather than as personal failure. The episode also touches on how childhood trauma can echo into adult relationships. Davitt describes a spiral of emotional decline that begins early and keeps going. Hopkins presses gently on whether that understanding can offer hope for the future. Bisson answers that introspection matters, but it needs knowledge and stories from other people. The episode suggests that recognition can make room for help. It also makes space for the fact that families can be loving and still divided by old wounds. The tone stays patient and humane throughout. By the end, both guests return to the need for greater awareness and better services for people living with complex PTSD. The podcast closes by thanking Michael for taking part and asking listeners to subscribe, rate, and recommend the show.

As heard by us

A calm look at how complex trauma can shape self-blame, shame, and the search for help.

Complex PTSD is treated here as a careful, humane conversation about how early trauma can continue to shape adult life. Catherine Hopkins hosts, while Professor John Bisson and Michael Davitt keep the discussion grounded by pairing clinical framing with lived experience.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a calm explanation of complex PTSD that still feels personal.

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