Complex PTSD is PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) caused by longstanding trauma, often from childhood by abusive families, rather than an isolated traumatic incident, such as rape or war.

Complex PTSD ia not recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and because the symptoms of C-PTSD can so closely resemble those of a person with Borderline Personality Disorder (in face some believe it’s the same thing), many people (especially women) are misdiagnosed with BPD, a much more stigmatizing label than PTSD or C-PTSD.

Here is a good article from Wikipedia that goes into more detail about what C-PTSD is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_post-traumatic_stress_disorder

I’m not going to list all the articles about C-PTSD because almost every mental health or narcissistic abuse article in this blog told from a personal perspective is really about having C-PTSD.

Even though my therapist does not believe I have BPD (or any other personality disorder) I’ve grown so attached to my label and it’s become so much a part of my identity (as well as Avoidant PD) that I’m going to keep both of those here in the menu.   After all, I was diagnosed twice and maybe it was accurate at the time (I used to act out a lot more).  Also , many who do have these disorders may find the list of articles useful.

It’s my belief that all personality disorders are essentially complications of complex PTSD. Personality disorders are caused by abuse or neglect during childhood, or failure to mirror the child. I believe these begin as PTSD but become so ingrained into the personality they become nearly impossible to eradicate during adulthood. I think this is why so many people (including myself) with C-PTSD either misdiagnose themselves as having a personality disorder, or are misdiagnosed by professionals, usually with BPD.