PTSD signal check

The PC-PTSD-5 (Primary Care PTSD Screen) was developed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Keep your most distressing trauma in mind and answer how the past month has gone. The items touch on painful experiences — stop anytime if it becomes uncomfortable. Scoring happens on your device; nothing is uploaded.

The PC-PTSD-5 comes from the US VA National Center for PTSD and is used in primary care and community settings to flag people who warrant a fuller PTSD evaluation.

Scoring has two steps: confirm trauma exposure (the gate item), then count how many of the five past-month symptoms apply — nightmares or intrusions, avoidance, hypervigilance, detachment, and self-blame. Three or more is a positive screen.

A positive result means further evaluation is warranted — it is not a diagnosis, which also requires symptoms persisting over a month with clear functional impairment. A negative screen does not fully rule PTSD out; trauma responses can be delayed.

Source: PC-PTSD-5 · US VA National Center for PTSD · Published by the US VA National Center for PTSD; widely used in primary-care and community screening · Original source

First, hold in mind the most distressing event you have experienced (e.g., a serious accident, assault, disaster, or a sudden loss), then answer.

1. Have you ever experienced a serious traumatic event like the ones described?
2. In the past month, have you had nightmares about it or thought about it when you did not want to?
3. In the past month, have you tried hard not to think about it, or gone out of your way to avoid reminders?
4. In the past month, have you been constantly on guard, watchful, or easily startled?
5. In the past month, have you felt numb or detached from people, activities, or your surroundings?
6. In the past month, have you felt guilty or blamed yourself or others for what happened?