PCL-5 PTSD Checklist — Free Online Self-Test, 20 Items

PTSD (PCL-5) asks about 20 reactions that can appear after a deeply distressing event such as an accident, a disaster or violence. They include re-experiencing, such as unwanted memories, nightmares or feeling as if the event were happening again; avoidance of related thoughts, places or people; changes in thinking and mood, such as negative beliefs about yourself and the world, self-blame, strong negative emotions and difficulty feeling positive ones; and hyperarousal, such as being constantly on guard, easily startled and unable to sleep.

For each item you choose how much that problem bothered you over the past month: not at all (0), a little bit (1), moderately (2), quite a bit (3) or extremely (4); the 20 answers add up to a total of 0 to 80. It is easier to answer if you keep in mind the one event that troubles you most. If reading the items becomes upsetting, it is fine to pause and come back, and it usually takes about four minutes.

Soundary shows your total in five bands: 0–10 minimal symptoms, 11–20 mild, 21–33 moderate, 34–51 severe and 52–80 very severe. From the severe band on, talking to a professional is recommended, and in the very severe band, doing so as soon as possible. Even with the same total, someone whose re-experiencing stands out faces different difficulties from someone whose emotional numbness or hyperarousal stands out, so check on the results screen which side your high items fall on.

It is common for these reactions to appear in the first weeks after a shocking event, and they often fade on their own with time. So whether they persist beyond a month is a more important clue than a score taken right after the event. This result is screening information, not a diagnosis; a PTSD diagnosis is made by a professional who looks at the event and the course of the symptoms together. If you are thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line right away, whatever your score.

PCL-5 is a self-report checklist released in 2013 by Weathers and colleagues through the US National Center for PTSD, built with 20 items to match the DSM-5 symptom criteria for PTSD. It is widely used in clinics and research to see symptom severity at a glance and to track change during treatment. What becomes traumatic differs from person to person, and the focus of this check is not how big the event was but how strongly and how long the reactions afterwards remain.

To see how your symptoms change, retaking it about a month later is a natural interval. If you save your results on Soundary, you can compare them side by side with your previous ones and follow the course of recovery. If your score stays in the moderate range or above, or nightmares, avoidance or irritability are shaking your sleep, work and relationships, talk to a mental health professional experienced with trauma. Trauma-focused psychotherapies are well known to be effective.