Difficulty feeling close to or trusting other people is one of the three domains that distinguish Complex PTSD from PTSD. It makes sense once you consider that, for many survivors, the danger came from someone who was supposed to be safe.
Why Relational Trauma Hits Trust So Hard
When trauma is prolonged or repeated, and especially when it involves a caregiver, partner, or someone else the survivor depended on, it teaches a lasting lesson: closeness itself can be unsafe. That lesson generalizes, making it hard to trust even people who have given no reason for suspicion — because the nervous system learned the pattern from someone who mattered.
What Disturbed Relationships Can Look Like
- Avoiding closeness altogether, even when connection is wanted
- Feeling suspicious of good treatment, or waiting for the other shoe to drop
- Testing whether people will stay, sometimes without meaning to
- Oscillating between wanting connection and pulling away when it arrives
- Difficulty setting boundaries, since some survivors never had a model of a safe relationship
Difficulty trusting is a pattern to work through, not a permanent sentence — and a good therapeutic relationship is frequently where the first steps of that work happen.
How Others Can Help
Consistency over time tends to matter more than any single gesture: showing up reliably, respecting stated boundaries, and not taking distancing personally. Pushing for trust or closeness faster than someone is ready for can reinforce the belief that closeness is unsafe — patience is genuinely part of the support.
Many people with Complex PTSD go on to build deeply meaningful, secure relationships. It takes real effort, and often some therapeutic support, but it is not out of reach.