Complex PTSD (also known as extreme stress disorder) is a condition that develops in individuals who experience time-long trauma as a result of various life events (e.g., war, prolonged child abuse, physical or sexual violence, torture, hostage or military captivity). Complex PTSD is also defined as a disorder that overlaps with PTSD symptoms in terms of complexity and duration of victimization. Complex PTSD, as a subtype of PTSD, is a consequence of an individual's experience of social or interpersonal trauma associated with its inevitable long-term impact on the personality over time. A high probability of complex PTSD may be indicated by a history of psychological trauma, especially if it was a prolonged traumatic event. It is also possible to assume complex PTSD when a person feels helpless, has no support, and exhibits various emotional reactions (e.g., crying, trembling, vomiting, alienation from work colleagues, friends).

Currently, in Ukraine, in the context of a full-scale war, the problem of complex PTSD is becoming increasingly relevant, especially among military personnel, as this category of the population is exposed to the greatest number of psychotraumatic factors. The main factors that affect military personnel include

extreme intensity of hostilities, rapid changes in the course of hostilities, expectation of conflict escalation
a sense of abandonment, hopelessness due to the death of a commander or a sense of betrayal due to his/her abandonment of combat positions for various reasons;
being in captivity with prolonged physical abuse and moral humiliation;
the need to see the bodies of fallen comrades;
the threat of explosives, fear, expectation of an unexpected missile attack;
a real threat to life that arose when moving to positions without proper protection, the threat of death from a sniper's bullet.
As the duration of a person's stay in combat situations increases, he or she acquires new behavioral habits and stereotypes that are of primary importance for survival and accomplishment of tasks, so these adaptive transformations outside of a life-threatening situation become negative, maladaptive, and form the main symptoms of combat stress disorders. Complex PTSD involves several traumatic events on a long-term basis, and this can lead to personality changes over time. The center's specialists conduct pathopsychological diagnostics of the personality, determine character accentuations to understand the cause and effect of this disorder and select the optimal method of psychocorrection. The purpose of treatment for this disorder is to reduce symptoms in an effort to recover and stimulate the patient to restore the quality of life as soon as possible, increase the level of adaptation, restore a sense of security, trust and return to interpersonal interactions, social functioning, integrate trauma into life and create a constructive behavioral pattern (risk, safety, protection).