Post-traumatic stress disorder: A theory of perception

This paper applies the concept of being-in-the-world, in particular the notion that we are in the world through our body, to the study of trauma. Since (i) trauma is experienced and remembered bodily, and since (ii) we are in the world through our bodies, for the post-traumatic survivor the body itself can become a source of pain and unstructured-bodily somatic memory. Thus, in radical cases, the post-traumatic survivor may feel threatened by her own body. This can result in a complex and chronic dissociative subtype of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that, in turn, may be accompanied by a sense of disownership toward the body. This sense of disownership has yet to receive appropriate attention. This paper will argue that phenomenological work is needed in order to improve our understanding of this phenomenon and, by so doing, improve treatment for those suffering from complex PTSD.