DO I HAVE PTSD? TEST

If you’d rather talk to a person than take a quiz, call us at 423-413-6195 for more information on effective PTSD treatment near you. 

PTSD Quiz: The PC-PTSD-5

Sometimes things happen to people that are unusually or especially frightening, horrible, or traumatic. Examples include a serious accident or fire, a physical or sexual assault or abuse, a natural disaster, a war, seeing someone be killed or seriously injured, or having a loved one die through homicide or suicide.

The screening below is the PC-PTSD-5, a five-question tool developed by researchers at the VA’s National Center for PTSD and used by healthcare providers across the country. It takes about a minute, and it can help you decide whether a professional evaluation makes sense.

If you answered yes to three or more of the five questions, your results suggest symptoms consistent with PTSD. A full psychological evaluation with a mental health professional is a worthwhile next step. This screening identifies people who may benefit from assessment, and only a licensed clinician can diagnose PTSD.

What Is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. The DSM-5 organizes PTSD symptoms into four clusters, and a diagnosis involves symptoms from each one persisting for more than a month.

The four DSM-5 symptom clusters of PTSD are:

• Intrusion: Unwanted memories, nightmares, and flashbacks that force the trauma back into the present.
• Avoidance: Steering away from people, places, conversations, and feelings connected to the event.
• Negative changes in mood and thinking: Persistent guilt, shame, or fear, distorted beliefs like “I can’t trust anyone,” emotional numbness, and detachment from others.
• Arousal and reactivity: Feeling constantly on guard, startling easily, irritability, trouble sleeping, and difficulty concentrating.

Trauma affects everyone differently, and symptoms sometimes appear months or even years after the event itself. However they show up, they represent the nervous system trying to protect you long after the danger has passed.

PTSD vs. Complex PTSD (CPTSD)

Complex PTSD has drawn growing attention, and the distinction matters. The ICD-11, the World Health Organization’s diagnostic system, recognizes CPTSD as its own condition. It typically develops after prolonged or repeated trauma, such as ongoing childhood abuse, domestic violence, or captivity, where escape felt impossible.

CPTSD includes the core PTSD symptoms and adds three deeper disturbances:

1. Persistent difficulty regulating emotions.
2. A deeply negative self-concept marked by shame and worthlessness.
3. Lasting trouble sustaining relationships. 

The DSM-5 used in the United States folds these experiences into PTSD rather than naming a separate diagnosis, which is why an American clinician may diagnose PTSD even when your experience matches CPTSD descriptions online. Either way, trauma-focused treatment addresses both, and our childhood trauma quiz can help if early experiences are part of your story.

PTSD vs. Acute Stress Disorder

The main difference between these two diagnoses is timing. Acute stress disorder describes trauma symptoms that appear within the first month after an event, from three days up to four weeks. When symptoms persist beyond a month, the diagnosis becomes PTSD.

The distinction matters because early treatment changes trajectories. Many people with acute stress disorder recover fully, and getting support during that first month lowers the odds of symptoms settling in for the long term. If your trauma is recent and you’re struggling, reaching out now is the most protective thing you can do.

What Will This PTSD Quiz Tell Me?

The PC-PTSD-5 tells you whether your experiences over the past month match the symptom pattern of PTSD closely enough to warrant a professional evaluation. A score of three or higher means your symptoms deserve clinical attention. A lower score with ongoing distress still deserves attention, since screenings capture patterns rather than the whole of what you’re carrying.

What the quiz can’t do is diagnose you. PTSD diagnosis requires a clinician who can explore your history, rule out other explanations, and understand how symptoms affect your daily life. Think of your result as information that makes your first conversation with a professional easier, because you’ll walk in with words for what’s been happening.

Trauma-Informed Treatment

PTSD responds to treatment, and trauma-focused therapies have decades of evidence behind them. At Time Wellness, care is trauma-informed from the first phone call, meaning our team understands how trauma shapes the brain and body and never pushes you to relive anything before you’re ready.

Our trauma treatment approaches include:

• EMDR therapy: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing helps the brain reprocess traumatic memories so they lose their raw, present-tense charge.
• Trauma-focused CBT: Cognitive work that untangles the guilt, shame, and distorted beliefs trauma leaves behind.
• DBT skills: Practical training in emotional regulation and distress tolerance, especially valuable for complex trauma.
• Trauma therapy: Individualized care that follows your pace and integrates body-based and holistic approaches alongside talk therapy.

Treatment is available at every level of intensity, from residential care in Taft to PHP, IOP, and virtual programs through our Chattanooga campus.

Following Up After Taking the Quiz

Whatever your score, give yourself credit for looking directly at something painful. If your results suggest PTSD, the next step is a professional evaluation, and our admissions team can schedule one with a single phone call. Bring your quiz answers if you like, since they give the conversation a running start.

If taking the quiz stirred up strong feelings, be gentle with yourself today. Reach out to someone you trust, and know that distress after confronting trauma is a signal to get support rather than a verdict about your future. If you find yourself in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach trained counselors any time, day or night.