POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER SELF-TEST

If you suspect that you might suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, complete the following self-test by clicking the "yes or "no" boxes next to each question, print out the test and show the results to your health care professional.

HOW CAN I TELL IF IT'S PTSD?
Yes or No?

Yes No Have you experienced or witnessed a life-threatening event that caused intense fear, helplessness or horror?


Do you re-experience the event in at least one of the following ways?

Yes No Repeated, distressing memories and/or dreams?
Yes No Acting or feeling as if the event were happening again (flashbacks or a sense of reliving it)?
Yes No Intense physical and/or emotional distress when you are exposed to things that remind you of the event?

Do you avoid reminders of the event and feel numb, compared to the way you felt before, in three
or more of the following ways:
Yes No Avoiding thoughts, feelings, or conversations about it?
Yes No Avoiding activities, places, or people who remind you of it?
Yes No Blanking on important parts of it?
Yes No Losing interest in significant activities of you life?
Yes No Feeling detached from other people?
Yes No Feeling your range of emotions is restricted?
Yes No Sensing that your future has shrunk (for example, you don't expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a normal life span)?

Are you troubled by two or more of the following:
Yes No Problems sleeping?
Yes No Irritability or outbursts of anger?
Yes No Problems concentrating?
Yes No Feeling "on guard"?
Yes No An exaggerated startle response?

Having more than one illness at the same time can make it difficult to diagnosis and treat the different conditions. Illnesses that sometimes complicate an anxiety disorder include depression and substance
abuse. With this in mind, please take a minute to answer the following questions:
Yes No Have you experienced changes in sleeping or eating habits?

More days than not, do you feel:
Yes No Sad or depressed?
Yes No Disinterested in life?
Yes No Worthless or guilty?

During the last year, has the use of alcohol or drugs:
Yes No Resulted in your failure to fulfill responsibilities with work, school, or family?
Yes No Placed you in a dangerous situation, such as driving a car under the influence?
Yes No Gotten you arrested?
Yes No Continued despite causing problems for you and/or your loved ones?


Reference:
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1994.

If you or someone you know would like more information on PTSD, please click here to go to the ADAA resource page on this topic.

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