medtests.de · Post-traumatic stress
PTSD Test
After a deeply distressing experience, the body can stay on high alert long after the event has passed. This self-test comes in two stages: first the short PC-PTSD-5 screen with five yes/no questions, then the full 20-question PCL-5 based on DSM-5. Neither is a diagnosis. You won't have to relive anything.
Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5)
Sometimes things happen to people that are unusually or especially frightening, horrible, or traumatic, for example a serious accident or fire, a physical or sexual assault or abuse, an earthquake or flood, a war, seeing someone be killed or seriously injured, or having a loved one die through homicide or suicide. The first question asks whether you have experienced anything like this. The following 5 questions ask about how it may have affected you over the past month. Please answer each question with Yes or No.
Full version: PCL-5
If the short screen was positive or you want a closer look, you can complete the full PCL-5 here. Its 20 questions cover your symptoms over the past month and give you a profile across the four DSM-5 symptom areas. Take a quiet moment, and pause any time if it gets to be too much.
PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), 20 items
The following 20 statements describe problems that people sometimes have after a very stressful experience. For each one, please indicate how much you were bothered by it in the past month. If the questions become too much, you may pause at any time.
What does the PC-PTSD-5 measure?
The Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 starts with one gate question: have you ever experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, such as a serious accident, assault, disaster, or sudden loss? If yes, five questions cover the typical aftermath over the past month: nightmares and unwanted memories, avoidance, being constantly on guard, feeling numb or detached, and guilt or blame. The score is simply the number of yes answers, from 0 to 5.
PC-PTSD-5 and PCL-5, what is the difference?
The PC-PTSD-5 is a short door-opener screen of five yes/no questions, meant to flag quickly whether a closer look is warranted. The PCL-5 is the detailed 20-item questionnaire that maps onto the four DSM-5 symptom clusters: intrusion, avoidance, negative changes in mood and thinking, and arousal. It runs from 0 to 80. A total from about 31 to 33 marks the range for probable PTSD, depending on context. The test also checks whether the DSM-5 symptom pattern is met, which is a professional note, not a diagnosis. The two results stand side by side and do not overwrite each other.
What does the result mean?
For the PC-PTSD-5, the VA National Center for PTSD recommends 4 as the standard cutoff, with 3 as a more sensitive threshold. For the PCL-5, a total of 31 or above is a positive screen. Either way, stress reactions after a severe event are normal at first. The real question is whether they persist for weeks and shape your days. A positive screen isn't a diagnosis, but it is a good, concrete reason to talk to a doctor or a trauma-informed therapist. Effective treatments for PTSD exist, and they work.
Source
Prins A, Bovin MJ, Smolenski DJ, et al. The Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5). J Gen Intern Med, 2016. Weathers FW, et al. The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). National Center for PTSD, 2013. Blevins CA, et al. The PCL-5: Development and Initial Psychometric Evaluation. J Trauma Stress, 2015;28(6):489-498. Developed by the VA National Center for PTSD, public domain; German PCL-5 wording is our own, non-normed translation.