Complex PTSD Test (CPTSD)

Before you start: this test asks about difficult and possibly traumatic experiences. Go at your own pace, answer only what feels okay, and feel free to pause or stop at any time — you don’t need to recall any details to take it. If you start to feel overwhelmed, it can help to pause, breathe slowly, and notice a few things around you right now that feel safe. Support is listed at the bottom of this page.

This free complex PTSD test is a private, trauma-informed screen for CPTSD — a condition that can develop after prolonged or repeated trauma, often beginning in childhood or within relationships where escape felt impossible. Based on the six symptom clusters of complex PTSD defined in the ICD-11, these 15 questions can help you see whether what you’re carrying fits the pattern of complex trauma, from minimal to severe.

If this resonates, please hold onto one thing as you go: the symptoms of complex PTSD are not flaws, weaknesses, or signs that something is wrong with you. They are the ways a nervous system learned to survive something it should never have had to endure. They made sense then, and they can be healed now. This test can’t diagnose you — only a professional can — but it can be a gentle first step toward understanding and support.

What Is Complex PTSD (CPTSD)?

Complex PTSD (CPTSD) is a trauma condition that develops in response to prolonged, repeated, or inescapable trauma — rather than a single event. It was first described by psychiatrist Judith Herman in 1992, and it’s now formally recognized in the ICD-11 (the World Health Organization’s diagnostic manual). While it shares the core features of PTSD, complex PTSD includes additional, deeper disturbances in how a person relates to their emotions, themselves, and others — the lasting imprint of trauma that went on for a long time, especially when it happened early in life or at the hands of someone who was supposed to provide safety.

Common roots include chronic childhood abuse or neglect, domestic violence, being trafficked or held captive, repeated bullying, or growing up in a frightening or profoundly invalidating environment. Because this kind of trauma is ongoing and interpersonal, it shapes a developing sense of self and of relationships at the deepest level. The ICD-11 defines complex PTSD through six symptom clusters: the three found in PTSD (re-experiencing, avoidance, and a sense of current threat), plus three additional “disturbances in self-organization” — difficulties with emotions, self-worth, and relationships — that make the condition “complex.”

Signs of Complex PTSD

Complex PTSD shows up across six recognizable areas. A professional diagnosis requires signs in each of them, but you don’t need all six to be struggling — and seeing yourself here can be the beginning of understanding. Read these gently, as the signs this test screens for.

Reliving the trauma (re-experiencing)

Unwanted, vivid memories, flashbacks, or nightmares that pull you back into the trauma as if it were happening now — sometimes with intense physical reactions, triggered by reminders you can’t always predict.

Avoidance

Going out of your way to avoid people, places, thoughts, feelings, or situations that bring the trauma to mind — pushing memories away, staying busy, or steering clear of anything that might stir it up.

A constant sense of threat (hypervigilance)

Feeling perpetually on guard, easily startled, or braced for danger even when you’re objectively safe. Your nervous system stays switched on, scanning for threat, as if the trauma could return at any moment.

Overwhelming emotions (affective dysregulation)

One of the “complex” features: emotions that feel too big to manage — flooding, intense reactions to small triggers, difficulty calming down — or the opposite, feeling numb, shut down, or cut off from your feelings entirely. Many people with CPTSD swing between the two.

A deeply negative sense of self (negative self-concept)

Another core “complex” feature: a persistent belief that you are worthless, a failure, fundamentally bad, or unlovable, often carried with heavy shame or guilt. This isn’t low self-esteem in the ordinary sense — it’s a trauma-shaped conviction about your very worth as a person, and it is not the truth about you.

Difficulty with relationships (disturbances in relationships)

The third “complex” feature: finding it hard to feel close to others, to trust, or to sustain relationships — keeping people at a distance, or struggling with closeness and conflict — because the people who should have been safe once weren’t.

Complex PTSD vs PTSD: What’s the Difference?

Complex PTSD and PTSD are closely related, and CPTSD includes everything PTSD involves — but the difference matters for understanding yourself and for treatment. PTSD typically follows a single traumatic event or a limited set of events (an accident, an assault, a disaster), and it centers on the three core clusters: re-experiencing, avoidance, and a sense of current threat. Complex PTSD follows prolonged, repeated trauma — usually interpersonal, often in childhood — and it adds three further disturbances: in emotional regulation, in self-concept, and in relationships.

Those three additional clusters — the “disturbances in self-organization” — are what make CPTSD “complex,” and they’re often the most painful and far-reaching part. Someone with PTSD might be haunted by a specific event; someone with complex PTSD often carries, on top of that, a pervasive sense of being broken, overwhelming emotions, and deep difficulty trusting or feeling close to others. Both are real, both are treatable, and recovery is genuinely possible — but complex PTSD usually needs additional, longer-term work on emotion regulation, self-worth, and relationships. If your trauma was a single event, our PTSD Test may fit your experience more closely.

How This Complex PTSD Test Works

This test has 15 statements covering the six symptom clusters of complex PTSD. For each, choose how much it has been true for you, thinking about roughly the past month. Answer only what feels okay:

Not at all = 0  |  A little = 1  |  Moderately = 2  |  Quite a bit = 3  |  Extremely = 4

Your answers add up to a score from 0 to 60, placing you in one of four ranges from minimal to severe. One honest note on accuracy: because complex PTSD involves all six clusters, the pattern of your symptoms matters as much as the total — a high score points toward complex trauma, but a professional looks at whether symptoms appear across every area. Treat your result as a screen and a starting point, not a diagnosis. Your answers are private.

Understanding Your Results

Your score reflects how strongly your experiences match the pattern of complex PTSD. Please read it gently, and as a guide to whether support is worthwhile — not as a diagnosis or a label. Only a trauma-informed professional can diagnose CPTSD.

How Complex PTSD Is Treated

Complex PTSD is treatable, and this is genuinely hopeful news — even when the trauma was severe and long-lasting, people recover meaningful parts of their lives. Treatment is usually trauma-focused and often follows a phased approach, first described by Judith Herman: beginning with safety and stabilization (building coping skills, grounding, and a sense of security), then gently processing the trauma, and finally reconnection — rebuilding relationships, identity, and a life beyond survival. Specific approaches with good evidence include trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and skills-based work on emotion regulation.

Because complex PTSD affects emotions, self-worth, and relationships — not just trauma memories — recovery often involves more than processing the past: it includes learning to regulate overwhelming feelings, gently challenging the trauma-born belief that you’re worthless, and slowly relearning that closeness can be safe. This takes time and a good therapeutic relationship, and it works best at your own pace. If overwhelming emotions or a harsh inner self-image are central for you, our Self-Esteem Test and Anxiety Test may add useful context to bring to a professional.

Methodology & Sources

This test is an educational screening tool informed by the ICD-11 definition of complex PTSD and the structure of the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ; Cloitre et al., 2018), the leading measure of ICD-11 PTSD and complex PTSD. Its 15 items are original statements covering the six CPTSD symptom clusters — re-experiencing, avoidance, sense of threat, affective dysregulation, negative self-concept, and disturbances in relationships. It is a screen, not a diagnostic instrument: a formal diagnosis requires a qualified, trauma-informed professional, who considers whether symptoms are present across all clusters, their link to trauma, and their impact on functioning.

References

1. World Health Organization. (2019/2021). International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11) — Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (6B41).
2. Cloitre, M., Shevlin, M., Brewin, C.R., Bisson, J.I., Roberts, N.P., Maercker, A., Karatzias, T., & Hyland, P. (2018). The International Trauma Questionnaire: Development of a self-report measure of ICD-11 PTSD and complex PTSD. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 138(6), 536–546. doi:10.1111/acps.12956
3. Herman, J.L. (1992). Trauma and Recovery. Basic Books. [Original concept of complex PTSD and phase-based recovery]

Frequently Asked Questions

What is complex PTSD?

Complex PTSD (CPTSD) is a trauma-related condition that develops after prolonged, repeated, or inescapable trauma — most often interpersonal trauma such as chronic childhood abuse or neglect, domestic violence, or captivity. Recognized in the ICD-11, it includes the core symptoms of PTSD (re-experiencing, avoidance, and a sense of ongoing threat) plus three additional “disturbances in self-organization”: difficulty regulating emotions, a deeply negative sense of self, and difficulty with relationships. First described by Judith Herman in 1992, complex PTSD reflects the far-reaching imprint of trauma that lasted a long time — and, importantly, it is treatable.

What is the difference between complex PTSD and PTSD?

Both are trauma conditions, and complex PTSD includes everything PTSD involves. The key difference is the type of trauma and the depth of the effects. PTSD usually follows a single or limited traumatic event and centers on re-experiencing, avoidance, and a sense of threat. Complex PTSD follows prolonged, repeated trauma (often in childhood or relationships) and adds three further areas of difficulty — overwhelming emotions, a negative self-concept, and relationship problems — known as “disturbances in self-organization.” These three clusters are what make CPTSD “complex,” and they often require additional, longer-term work in treatment.

Can complex PTSD be cured or healed?

Complex PTSD is very treatable, and while “cured” isn’t quite the right frame, people genuinely heal — meaning the symptoms lose their grip, and you can build a full, connected life. Recovery usually involves trauma-focused therapy, often in phases: first establishing safety and coping skills, then processing the trauma, then rebuilding identity and relationships. Approaches like trauma-focused CBT and EMDR have good evidence, alongside work on emotion regulation and self-worth. Healing takes time and a trusting therapeutic relationship, and it happens at your own pace — but recovery is real and achievable, even after years of complex trauma.

Is this complex PTSD test a diagnosis?

No. This is an educational screening tool based on the ICD-11 symptom clusters, designed to help you reflect on whether your experiences fit the pattern of complex PTSD. It cannot diagnose you. A formal diagnosis requires a qualified, trauma-informed professional, who will consider whether symptoms are present across all six clusters, how they connect to your trauma history, and how they affect your life — things a self-report screen can’t fully assess. Please use your result as a compassionate starting point for seeking support, not as a conclusion.

Related Tests

• PTSD Test — for trauma from a single event or limited set of events
• Anxiety Test — anxiety and hypervigilance often accompany complex trauma
• Clinical Depression Test — depression frequently co-occurs with CPTSD
• Attachment Style Test — early trauma shapes how we bond and trust
• Self-Esteem Test — the negative self-concept at the heart of CPTSD

This test is an educational screening tool, not a diagnosis or a substitute for professional care. Complex PTSD can only be diagnosed by a qualified, trauma-informed professional. If you are in crisis or having thoughts of harming yourself, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, US, 24/7). If you are in an unsafe or abusive situation, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available at 1-800-799-7233 (24/7, confidential). Outside the US, find helplines at findahelpline.com. Be gentle with yourself.