Trauma Response Quiz

Assessing Your Struggle in the Aftermath of Traumatic Events

No matter whether you are dealing with childhood trauma or something that took place in your adult life, trauma can influence every aspect of your life. Experiencing a traumatic event can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Trauma can seriously impact your day-to-day functioning. This trauma response quiz will help clue you into whether you should seek help.

Emerald Isle Health and Recovery is here to help you through the hardest parts of your life. Allow us to walk with you in this difficult time and get the help you need and deserve.

What is a Trauma Response?

Your trauma response indicates how well you are doing in the aftermath of a traumatic event. It shows you where you might be having negative thoughts, fight or flight responses, or difficult feelings that are impacting your life. However, many people fail to categorize their trauma as real trauma.

A traumatic or adverse childhood event can include something as extreme as witnessing a family member die or being a part of a life-threatening situation. It could stem from past trauma like physical abuse in childhood, a car accident, or anything that has a profound impact on your life.

Your trauma response will be highly individualized. Everyone has different coping skills in their emotional toolbox and will experience different symptoms. This trauma quiz will help you to determine what treatment options might be the right fit for you.

Trauma Response Quiz

For each of the questions included here, give yourself a score based on this scale:

• 0 – Never
• 1 – Sometimes
• 2 – Often
• 3 – Always

At the end of the short quiz, you will tally up your score to discover whether you should seek possible posttraumatic stress disorder treatment.

1. Do you avoid certain events, activities, colors, or people that remind you of the trauma or trigger unpleasant feelings in your mind?
2. Do you find yourself dealing with intrusive thoughts about the event(s) that happened to you? This can take the form of replaying memories in your mind, having fleeting thoughts, or seeing the trauma in your mind.
3. Do you feel upset when thinking about the trauma that happened to you?
4. Do you feel isolated from the people in your life?
5. Do you have difficulty concentrating on things that matter to you?
6. Do your memories of the traumatic event keep you from important day-to-day tasks like chores or work?
7. Are you continuously in a negative mood or state of mind due to the memory of the trauma?
8. Do you sometimes exhibit reckless behavior?
9. Do you find yourself easily startled when something unexpected happens?

Scoring your Short Quiz

Most people who take this trauma quiz are interested in whether they should seek out professional help for their symptoms. The truth is that posttraumatic stress disorder can influence your ability to function. If you scored high on this quiz, it is time to seek helpful PTSD treatment options with Emerald Isle.

• 0-10: Your trauma affects you very minimally. You might have a few symptoms that bother you from time to time, but it does not significantly harm your day-to-day functioning. Outpatient therapy may help you to resolve these symptoms and move past your trauma.
• 11-18: Your trauma symptoms are starting to seriously impact your functioning. It would be best for a person with a score this high to seek out qualified clinicians who have experience handling PTSD so that you can conquer your fear and anxiety surrounding the event that you experienced.
• 19-27: Your trauma response is significantly impacting your daily functioning. You need to seek treatment options immediately and may want to consider inpatient treatment to jumpstart your healing.

A person who wants to move past their trauma may want to reach out to Emerald Isle for help processing their experiences. There are several types of helpful therapy that you might participate in to minimize symptoms.

Types of Therapy for Those Struggling with PTSD and Trauma

If you are struggling with a normal and healthy trauma response in the face of the challenges that have impacted your life, you need clinical help. The right type of therapy can help you to better cope and respond to triggers that remind you of the trauma.

All of these therapies can take place on an inpatient basis if you need immediate and intensive help. However, they can also be administered via outpatient treatment if you need a less restrictive environment.

Trauma-Focused CBT to Change Thought Patterns

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the best and most researched treatment modalities for a number of conditions. Trauma-focused CBT is a highly specialized form of treatment for those who struggle with difficulty managing their memories. It lasts for a relatively short period of time (usually 12 to 16 sessions) but can have a profound impact.

TF-CBT walks you through the process of reframing thoughts so that you can rewrite the patterns of your life. You will take the negative thoughts that present themselves around your trauma and examine them closely. By changing your thoughts, you can then influence your feelings and actions.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing to Minimize Symptoms

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new treatment for PTSD and the trauma response. It involves reprocessing the events that happened to you, but it has a profound effect. Researchers found that it improved the diagnosis of PTSD and reduced the symptoms of a traumatic experience.

Much like TF-CBT, this form of therapy is designed to be relatively short-term. Most people see results within about 10 to 12 sessions.

Exposure Therapy for Desensitization

Sometimes, the best thing you can do to minimize your reaction to events or people that trigger painful memories for you is to expose yourself to them. Much like the other two types of therapies, this one is also relatively short-term. With a skilled clinician, you will relive the trauma that happened to you until you are no longer sensitive to hearing about it or reliving it.

Get the Help You Need for Your Trauma Response

Whether you need short-term outpatient treatment or an inpatient experience to help you manage the immediate needs related to your trauma, Emerald Isle Health and Recovery has experience helping people just like you. If you scored high on this short trauma response quiz, it is time to make your healing a priority.

Reach out to us today to learn more about the extensive treatment options we offer to help you overcome your trauma response and become more engaged in your daily life!