Quiz
Could you be suffering from the effects of trauma?
Could it be PTSD or Complex PTSD?
Read through this list of symptoms and tick those that are affecting you. This is not a test so you can't get it wrong. It's a tool to get you thinking about whether this might be affecting your life and help you decide if you want to seek a professional diagnosis.
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You don't have to know what caused the trauma to be affected by it.
PTSD is usually caused by a specific traumatic incident.
Complex PTSD is caused by ongoing emotional and/or physical trauma, usually in childhood.
Sometimes Lots Symptoms
Exhausted / Tired
Brain Fog
Procrastinating
Not knowing or stressing over if you should tick ‘sometimes’ or ‘lots’ lol.
Distracted
Feeling anxious and not sure why
Spaced out
Sleep issues
Indecisive
Jumpy, startle easily
Rush of emotions without logical cause
Triggered, set off by people, places, and experiences
Flashes of bad things that happened rather than a memory
Feeling uneasy and on edge, can't sit still for long
Self-sabotaging
Trust issues with self and others
Feeling different to others and like you don’t fit in
Expect to be let down
Lonely
Relationship issues
Isolating
Avoiding people, places, activities, tasks
Hate being left on your own
Ashamed
Not taking care of yourself- hygiene, health, etc
Surviving not thriving. Just getting through the day
Focused on others' needs and problems, not yourself
Emotional and scared you will have emotional outbursts
Numb
Angry outbursts
Stressed, body aching, headaches
Nervous ticks, jerking, twitches, breath holding, clenching
A deep longing to be saved, loved, rescued that we may not want to admit to
Very independent. Don’t ask for or need help
Wanting to just run away or shut down
Lost time and /or lost memory, particularly from childhood or of whole childhood.
Repeated bad partner choices
Overwhelmed
Don’t know what to do
Don’t know what’s wrong
Don’t feel safe and secure
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Hypervigilance to threats perceived or real. Footsteps, loud noises, being trapped, angry people
Sleeping, vegging out on your days off rather than doing something fun
Long term unemployed or difficulties staying in work, or not coping at work
Addictions to drugs, alcohol, sugar, gambling, gaming, porn, etc
Hoarding and/or unclean home environment
Homelessness or unsafe living environments
Feel like a failure at life
Feeling worthless and unlovable on some level. ‘I’m not good enough’
Repeated financial issues
Not thriving despite being qualified or knowing what to do etc
Chronic health issues without a clear cause - skin issues, fibromyalgia, back pain, headaches,
digestive issues, etc
Over or underweight despite frequent attempts to fix this
If you find that you have ticked a lot of the boxes under the ‘Lots’ column or you find that any of these symptoms are particularly bothering you and affecting your life, it might be a good idea to talk to your doctor about it. You don’t need to have all of these symptoms to be affected. There are different responses to trauma. Feel free to take this list with you as a reminder of what you want to talk about and add your own symptoms. Your Doctor can then assess you and take it from there.
While you can use any of the tools on this site with or without a diagnosis it’s very important to see a professional. A Doctor can rule out any physical causes for these symptoms, for example, anaemia, and also refer you to get a Mental Health Care Plan (Free in Australia), which may include a referral to see a psychologist. Only a Doctor, Psychiatrist, or Psychologist can diagnose you with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or Complex PTSD. Once you have a diagnosis you then have access to professional care and services if you wish.
Getting a professional diagnosis is also a beginning step to healing. It provides more clarity about what’s wrong with you, and why you're struggling, as well as recognition and validation that it is not your fault.