Answering these 7 questions can help signal if you have PTSD

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Did you know that about 5 million adults in the U.S. are affected by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) every year? Living with the paralyzing reminders of a past trauma can make even the simple things in life seem difficult.

“People with PTSD may feel stuck, scared, and depressed. But there is hope,” says Dr. Chad Wetterneck, clinical supervisor at Rogers.

A 7-question confidential quiz recently developed by Rogers can help determine if you or someone you know has a tendency toward PTSD. The quiz is not intended to diagnose the disorder.

Questions include:

• Have you ever experienced or witnessed a life-threatening event?
• Do you experience recurrent nightmares or flashbacks of the event, feeling as though you’re in the life-threatening situation again?
• Do you often feel on edge or anxious often?
• Do you feel depressed and alone?
• Do you engage in risky behaviors, such as substance use, gambling, driving fast, etc.?

Healing from trauma

We understand the damage trauma can do to someone’s well-being and that it can prevent carrying on with daily life in a safe way. To help patients reclaim their life, we offer different levels of Trauma Recovery Care: inpatient care, residential care (opening in early June 2019), and outpatient care. Throughout each level of our care, we offer specialized, intensive, evidence-based treatment to help patients gain successful coping strategies.

We address the following triggers through our Trauma Recovery Care:

• Sexual and physical assaults during childhood or adulthood
• Natural disasters
• Terrorist attacks
• Military combat
• Life-threatening illness, injury, or accidents
• Secondary trauma (such as first-responder witness of the aftermath of abuse, accidents, death

One patient's path to recovery

According to Rogers’ Dr. Chad Wetterneck, licensed clinical psychologist, people who experience trauma often try to counter the feelings of vulnerability and helplessness by establishing other ways to have control over themselves through:

• Overcontrol eating and exercise and developing an eating disorder
• Isolating and restricting formerly desired activities and becoming depressed
• Dulling the memory or anxiety with substance use

In the following patient’s case, she found herself in a revolving door of outpatient centers being treated for an eating disorder when it was determined that the key to her recovery was to treat her PTSD first. 

“They had determined that my PTSD was probably the underlying issue and that if I didn't handle that and address that properly that I would never get better and I would continue this cycle of visiting treatment centers. There's no way that I ever thought I would love myself, that I would be proud of myself, that I would think that I'm a great person, and I do today.

~Past Rogers Trauma Recovery patient who was also treated for an eating disorder

If you are concerned you or someone you know could be suffering from PTSD or other trauma-related disorder, check your symptoms here: rogersbh.org/ptsdquiz.

Outpatient care for adults is available in Appleton, Brown Deer, Madison, Minneapolis, West Allis, and in Illinois at our Skokie and Hinsdale locations. Outpatient care for adolescents is available in Brown Deer. Additionally, our new Trauma Recovery Adult Residential Care facility is planned to open at our Oconomowoc campus in June 2019.