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Screening for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
If you suspect that you might suffer from PTSD, answer the questions below, print out the results and share them with your health care professional.
Are you troubled by the following?
| Yes No | You have 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, 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 reminders of the event affect you in at least three of the following ways?
| Yes No | Avoiding thoughts, feelings, or conversations about it |
| Yes No | Avoiding activities and places or people who remind you of it |
| Yes No | Blanking on important parts of it |
| Yes No | Losing interest in significant activities of your 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 normal life span) |
Are you troubled by at least two 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 diagnose and treat the different conditions. Depression and substance abuse are among the conditions that occasionally complicate PTSD and other anxiety disorders.
| 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 or your loved ones? |
Reference:
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1994.
