sky...

it sounds to me that your main "argument" against c-ptsd is that it somehow makes "real" ptsd seem pale in comparison. this is simply not true - it's a misunderstanding of the name.

the "complex" in c-ptsd refers to the nature (ongoing) of the trauma, whereas ptsd refers to a single event. it is NOT meant to somehow suggest that having one disorder is "worse" than having the other. it sounds to me like you have been triggered by this misunderstanding. no one here is seeking "extra" validation by accepting the label of c-ptsd, we are merely affirming that this label fits our experience better.

to take it to something else in mental health: there is the diagnosis of major depressive disorder, and then there is psychotic depression. one obviously encompasses the other (psychotic depression is depression PLUS psychotic features). this does not mean psychotic depression is necessarily worse, but to deny that it exists merely because it shares (all) of the features of depression is to miss half the clinical picture.

similarly, there is ptsd and there is c-ptsd. c-ptsd is ptsd PLUS other factors. ptsd (as it stands in the dsm-iv) does NOT completely and accurately describe the extra factors present in c-ptsd.

if the diagnosis of c-ptsd does not apply to you, then that is ok. it doesn't mean your suffering is any less "complex". it does mean that you do not (hopefully!) have to struggle with the extra factors present in c-ptsd. and that is a good thing .