2 ICD-11 axes · 75 statements · the conditions are computed by code
Complex PTSD test (CPTSD) Two axes instead of one score
CPTSD — complex post-traumatic stress disorder — is what remains after hard experience that lasted or repeated and was difficult to get out of. ICD-11 describes it in two halves: the trauma core — the past returns on its own, you route around reminders, the body stays on alert — and disturbances in self-organization: emotions run all-or-nothing, the view of yourself is steadily poor, closeness is hard. It is the second half that separates complex PTSD from ordinary PTSD. You answer 75 statements and receive a profile on both axes, six clusters, a dissociation line, the cost in life as its own bar, and a checklist of the conditions by which this is actually determined. We never ask what happened to you — not here and not in the test. The test neither makes nor removes a diagnosis. About 13 minutes, free, no sign-up.
The profile, the map and the checklist — right after your answers, free · Full reading — 990 ₽
- The past returning
- Avoidance
- Sense of threat
- Emotions
- How you see yourself
- Relationships
- Switching off, cost and frame
- 75statements, about 13 minutes
- 2independent ICD-11 axes
- 6clusters inside the two axes
- 0questions about what happened
Demo
Four statements out of seventy-five
Each statement feeds one facet, facets add up to a cluster, clusters to an axis. Answer four and watch a scale take shape: this is exactly the mechanism the whole test runs on.
Note the fourth statement: it is reversed. Every facet has one — they stop the test from agreeing with everything when someone answers in a single tone. The full test has twenty of them.
The past returning
Answer about how things have been in recent months. We never ask what happened.
Four items measure almost nothing — that is why the band is this wide. In the full test it is narrowed by 75 statements, 21 facets and reversed items. There are no percentiles here: this test has no normative sample, and we will not invent one.
Why
Why one score is not enough here
Free PTSD tests return a single number and a cut-off: above it, likely; below it, probably not. The complex form does not work that way, because it is not determined by a sum. ICD-11 requires ALL THREE clusters of the trauma core to be present, and separately all three clusters of disturbances in self-organization, and it requires that this costs something in life. One large total can be assembled from anything and say nothing.
So the test shows a picture rather than a score: where you sit on each of the two axes, which clusters are closed and which are not, what it costs in work, in the people close to you and in daily life — and what follows from that. The fourth, awkward region of the map matters most: self-organization is loud while the trauma core is not. That is a common and important picture, and it means the explanation should be looked for elsewhere.
6 clusters
Three for the trauma core, three for disturbances in self-organization. Computed separately and never merged into one total.
4 conditions
The ICD-11 gates: all three core clusters, all three self-organization clusters, a real cost in life, and duration.
Dissociation
Its own line — what most distinguishes the complex form, and what changes the order in which help should come.
0 questions
The test asks nothing about the event itself: details outside therapy do harm, and the profile does not need them.
Inside
Seven groups, twenty-one facets
The six ICD-11 clusters and what sits outside the axes
Re-experiencing
The past returning
The first cluster of the trauma core. This is not about thinking a lot about the past; it is about memory arriving on its own — as images, as dreams, as the sense that it is happening again. And about the body answering a reminder before the mind does: a smell, a voice, a similar place.
Facets
- Intrusions and dreams
- The body on a reminder
Ends of the scale from «stays in the past» to «lives in the present»
Avoidance
Avoidance
The second core cluster, and it is double. Outer avoidance means places, people, conversations, films; inner avoidance means thoughts and feelings a person steers away from by filling the day to the brim. The inner kind is almost invisible from outside and cheaper in the moment — which is exactly why it can grow for years.
Facets
- Outer avoidance
- Inner avoidance
Ends of the scale from «I go anywhere» to «I plan routes around it»
Sense of threat
Sense of threat
The third core cluster: part of your attention is permanently on the setting — who is nearby, where the exit is, what is shifting in someone’s face — while the body holds itself ready: startling, tension, a hard entry into sleep. It was useful once. Now it runs around the clock and spends the resource everything else needs.
Facets
- Being on guard
- A body on alert
Ends of the scale from «safe» to «always ready»
Affect dysregulation
Emotions
The first cluster of disturbances in self-organization. Dysregulation has two sides and the criterion covers both: a feeling arrives at full volume and takes longer to leave than it does for others — or it does not arrive at all, and days come with neither bad nor good in them. Often one person has both.
Facets
- Flooded
- Numbness
Ends of the scale from «I notice it early» to «it takes me over»
Negative self-concept
How you see yourself
The second self-organization cluster and the core of the whole complex picture. Guilt says «I did badly», shame says «something is wrong with me» — which is why good deeds never fix it. The steady sense that good things are addressed to someone else belongs here too. The key word is steady: that is what separates it from a self-image that swings.
Facets
- Shame
- Guilt and worthlessness
Ends of the scale from «I have a right to good things» to «something is wrong with me»
Disturbances in relationships
Relationships
The third self-organization cluster. Closeness is hard in both directions: letting someone in is frightening because trust is expected to cost, and being alone is hard too. Some keep their distance and leave first; some stay at any price. From outside it reads as a difficult character; from inside it is the only way not to be vulnerable.
Facets
- Closeness
- Keeping away
Ends of the scale from «calm beside people» to «safe only alone»
Switching off, cost and frame
Switching off, cost and frame
Eight facets outside the two axes. Dissociation — watching yourself from outside, blanks in time — is what most distinguishes the complex form and what changes the ORDER of help. Cost in life is three separate bars (work, people close to you, daily life and health): it is what separates a hard experience from a disorder. And the frame: did it last, was there a before, and what else could explain the picture — illness, loss, exhaustion.
Facets
- Watching from outside
- Blanks
- Cost: work and tasks
- Cost: people close to you
- Cost: daily life and health
- How long it lasted
- There was a before
- Other explanations
Ends of the scale from «life goes on» to «the whole life is paying»
Mechanics
How the result is computed
- Step 1
Items → facets
Each of the 75 statements feeds one of 21 facets. Reversed items are turned around, the mean becomes a position from 0 to 100.
- Step 2
Facets → clusters → axes
Facets add up to the six ICD-11 clusters, clusters to two independent axes: the trauma core and disturbances in self-organization. They are never merged into one total.
- Step 3
Axes → a point on the map
Two coordinates give a point in a quadrant and the region it lands in. If the point sits near a border, the test says so plainly instead of stretching the picture.
- Step 4
Conditions → outcome
Then a boolean algorithm runs, not a sum: are all three core clusters closed, all three self-organization clusters, is there a real cost, did it last. One of four outcomes follows — and the code derives it, not the AI.
Why not «a score at the end»
Because the complex form is determined by «every cluster is closed», not by «the total is above a line». Two people with the same total can sit in opposite regions of the map: one has a loud core, the other loud self-organization, and they need different help. So the hero of the result here is a picture and a checklist, not a number.
How it works
From answers to reading
Four steps, nothing extra
- 01
Answers
75 statements, about 13 minutes. The draft is saved — you can close the tab and come back. Nothing is asked about the event itself: only one closed choice of situation type, and «I would rather not say» is an equal option there.
- 02
Computation
Both axes, six clusters, 21 facets, the dissociation line, three cost bars and four conditions are computed by an algorithm, by formulas identical for everyone. No AI takes part at this step.
- 03
Profile right away
The point on the map, the region, the clusters as bars and the number of closed conditions are free, straight after your answers. If your answers show risk, a block with help lines opens free as well, before any payment.
- 04
Full reading
What your pair of axes means, the checklist with every condition explained, the differential, the route to a specialist and the practical part. Plus a PDF and a chat with the model that holds your profile.
Result
What you get
The free part is not a teaser for its own sake: the point, the region and every computed cluster are yours immediately and for good. The reading explains numbers that are already open.
Free, right after your answers
- Your point on the «trauma core × self-organization» map and the name of the region
- Six clusters as bars, with zones
- How many ICD-11 conditions your answers close
- The «there is another explanation» flag, if your answers point at one
- A help block with crisis lines if your answers show risk — with no payment and no conditions
The full reading
- What your pair of axes means and which of the four outcomes applies to you
- The checklist of conditions with every one explained — what is closed, what is not, what it changes
- A six-ray cluster profile and a separate dissociation line
- Cost in life: three bars and what to do about them
- The differential: how this differs from depression, borderline patterns, autism and ADHD
- The route where you live: what you will hear in a consulting room and what to ask for
- A PDF with every number and a chat with an AI that holds your profile
One payment, no subscription. The link stays yours for good — reread the reading and show it to a specialist.
What it rests on
Where the axes and conditions come from
What is known about the construct — and what we do not claim about our test
ICD-11
Complex PTSD has its own entry in the international classification currently in force: three core clusters plus three clusters of disturbances in self-organization, and a requirement of significant impairment. Our gates follow that structure.
Boolean
The international questionnaire used to study this construct is not scored as a sum but by the rule «at least one sign in every cluster plus functional impairment». We took that principle rather than a cut-off score.
Nearly half
About half the people who meet the complex picture also meet the criteria for a borderline personality pattern. That is why the differential in the reading is a required part, not a courtesy.
75 items
Every wording is ours. The frame of the construct is free; the specific items of other questionnaires are not, and closed instruments are not reproduced even in part.
What the test measures
How present the six ICD-11 clusters are in your answers, how the two axes relate, what it costs in life, whether switching off is there — and how the conditions this is determined by look in your own answers.
What it does not measure
A diagnosis. No questionnaire can make one or exclude one: a clinician does that in person, in conversation. There is no lab test or scan for this.
What the test never asks
What happened to you. Not one question about the event — only about how it echoes now. A detailed account outside a therapeutic relationship does harm, and the profile does not need it.
Honest limits. This is an educational tool, not diagnostics and not a consultation. The test has no normative sample — no percentiles, no sensitivity and no «accuracy ±N» here — and the thresholds for the conditions are ours rather than clinical cut-offs. Self-report diverges from an in-person assessment in both directions. The reading prescribes no treatment, discusses no medication and teaches no memory-processing technique: that is a specialist’s work in a relationship, and it does not travel well as text. The PDF is material for a conversation with a specialist, not a conclusion. If things are severe right now, a live person is needed rather than a test: call your local emergency number or a crisis line.
Who it is for
Who this test is for
People whose past «ended long ago» while nothing got easier
The events finished years back, and vigilance, shame and difficulty with closeness stayed. The test shows what exactly stayed and which part of the picture it lives in.
People who recognised themselves in the word CPTSD
There is a lot written about it online and much of it is loose. The test turns recognition into specifics: which clusters your answers actually close and which they do not.
People choosing between explanations
Depression, long exhaustion, a borderline pattern, autism and ADHD produce a similar picture. The reading shows how each of them differs from yours specifically.
People heading to a specialist
The reading and the PDF are material for a first conversation: what to ask for, what to expect and why a consulting room may use a different name for this.
Not for children or teenagers
The test is written for an adult answering about themselves. Children are assessed differently, with the family involved; the result cannot be transferred to a child.
Not a substitute for help right now
If things are dangerous or unbearable right now, a live person comes first: a crisis line, a specialist, emergency services. The test can wait — it is not the urgent thing.
Method
About the test in detail
What the test measures, how the two ICD-11 axes and 21 facets are built, why the algorithm is boolean rather than a sum, what the conditions are and why the thresholds are ours, why we never ask about the event, what the reading contains and what we do not promise — for those who want to understand before taking it.
The test sorts your answers into the six clusters the international classification currently in force uses for this picture: three of them are the trauma core, three are disturbances in self-organization. The clusters make up two independent axes, and they are never merged into a single score: it is their combination that decides what is being talked about at all.
- The past returning — intrusions, dreams, the body reacting to a reminder;
- Avoidance — outer (places, people, conversations) and inner (thoughts and feelings);
- Sense of threat — vigilance and a body that holds itself ready;
- Emotions — both sides of dysregulation: flooding and numbness;
- How you see yourself — shame that says «something is wrong with me», and steady guilt;
- Relationships — closeness switching on alarm, distance as a way to survive;
- Outside the axes: dissociation, cost in life as three bars, and the frame (did it last, was there a before, what else could explain it).
In PTSD the trauma core is burning: memory arrives on its own, reminders are routed around, the body stays on alert. The complex form adds a second half — what remains not from the event but from the fact that it lasted: emotions with no middle gears, a steadily poor view of oneself, hard closeness. The two are mutually exclusive: one or the other is diagnosed, never both.
The practical point of the difference is that help differs. With a core and no disturbances in self-organization, the work is usually shorter and more targeted; with the complex form a skills stage — about emotions, self-image and relationships — is usually added to memory work. That is why the test shows two axes side by side rather than one number.
There is a third, common picture: disturbances in self-organization are loud while the trauma core is not. That is not «almost CPTSD» but a direct pointer to look elsewhere for the explanation — and in the reading it is the most important finding.
The classification used in Russian consulting rooms has no separate entry for the complex form. The closest are post-traumatic stress disorder (F43.1) and the rarely used entry about enduring personality change after catastrophe (F62.0). So someone who recognised themselves in the word CPTSD will hear a different name at an appointment.
It is better to know that in advance: otherwise it is easy to conclude you were not understood and leave. The reading explains how to talk about it, what to ask for (trauma-focused therapy; a skills stage first where dysregulation is strong) and what to bring with you.
- Your point on the «trauma core × self-organization» map and the name of the region — free;
- Six clusters as bars with zones and the number of closed conditions — free;
- A help block with crisis lines if your answers show risk — free and before any payment;
- The full reading: which of the four outcomes applies to you and what it means;
- The ICD-11 checklist with every condition explained and the internal cluster counts;
- A six-ray profile, a separate dissociation line and three cost-in-life bars;
- The differential: how this differs from depression, a borderline pattern, autism and ADHD;
- The route where you live and a PDF report with every number;
- A chat with an AI that already holds your profile.
The test never asks what happened to you — not one question about the event. There is only one closed choice of situation type, and «I would rather not say» is an equal option in it. The reason is not delicacy: a detailed account of hard events outside a therapeutic relationship does harm, and the profile does not need it — the picture comes from the symptoms and their cost.
The test neither makes nor excludes a diagnosis, neither overturns nor confirms a clinician’s decision, prescribes no treatment, discusses no medication and teaches no memory-processing technique. The thresholds for the conditions are ours rather than clinical cut-offs, and that is said in the same place the checklist appears. If things are dangerous or unbearable right now, a live person is needed rather than a test.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
The things people ask most: how CPTSD differs from PTSD, whether this diagnosis is given here, whether you will be asked what happened, how long it takes, what to do with the result and what exactly you are paying for. Answered plainly — no small print.
The complex form is the same trauma core (the past returning, avoidance, a sense of threat) plus a second half: disturbances in self-organization — emotions with no middle gears, a steadily negative view of oneself and difficulty with closeness. It arises where the hard part lasted or repeated and getting out was difficult. The two diagnoses are mutually exclusive. The test shows both axes side by side and says which half is louder in you.
No, not once. The test asks only how it echoes now, and once about the type of situation from a closed list where «I would rather not say» is an equal option. Details of the event outside a therapeutic relationship do harm, and the profile does not need them: the picture comes from the symptoms and their cost in life.
The classification in force there has no separate entry for the complex form. The closest are F43.1 (post-traumatic stress disorder) and the rarely used F62.0 (enduring personality change after catastrophe). That is a quirk of the document rather than a statement about you — worth knowing in advance so an appointment does not feel like being misunderstood.
The free PCL-5 scale on this site gives one score against the DSM-5 criteria and a cut-off. Here there are 75 of our own statements, two independent ICD-11 axes, six clusters, 21 facets, a separate dissociation line, three cost bars, the conditions with counts inside and an AI reading built from your numbers — including how your picture differs from depression and from a borderline pattern. They are different tools: a screener answers «is it worth going», a reading answers «what exactly is happening».
The International Trauma Questionnaire is the research instrument this picture is studied with, and it has a validated Russian version. It is free only for non-commercial use, so not one of its items appears here: all 75 wordings are ours. The principle it is scored by, however, we did take and do not hide: not a sum of points but the rule that every cluster must be closed whole.
This is the central differential of the topic: about half the people meet both sets of criteria. What separates them is stability: in the complex form the self-image is steadily negative, in a borderline pattern it swings between extremes, alongside fear of abandonment. The reading works through this fork from your numbers — but the choice between them is made by a clinician, not a questionnaire.
About 13 minutes: 75 statements on a single agreement scale. The draft is saved — you can close the tab and come back — and the profile and checklist appear right after your answers, free.
No. The test is written for an adult answering about themselves. Children and teenagers are assessed differently, with the family involved; an adult test result cannot be transferred to a child.
Trauma therapy works, and the research says so honestly — but we will not promise healing or timelines, because it does not work like that. What is known: trauma-focused psychotherapy helps, and where dysregulation or dissociation is strong a skills and stabilization stage comes first. Medication is neither named nor discussed here — those decisions belong to a clinician.
If things are dangerous or unbearable right now, a live person comes before any test: your local emergency number, or a crisis line (in the US, 988; in the UK, Samaritans on 116 123). If your answers show signs of risk, a block with help lines opens free and before payment — we do not make money on protection.
Free: both axes, the point on the map with its region, six clusters with zones, all 21 facets, the number of closed conditions, the «another explanation» flag and the help block if risk shows — the last two are always visible, even if you never buy the reading. For 990 ₽ the full reading opens: which of the four outcomes applies to you, the checklist with every condition explained, the six-ray profile, the dissociation line and the order of help, the three cost bars, the differential and the route where you live. Plus a PDF and an AI chat. One payment, no subscription.
Start
Take the test and see your picture
75 statements, about 13 minutes. Taking it is free and the profile and checklist show immediately; the full reading is 990 ₽.
Related
Other tests and materials
The picture of a trauma imprint is one of the tools in this section: next to it are a free PCL-5 PTSD screening, an attention-profile test and readings about relationships. What this page rests on is in the list of sources below.
Sources
- ICD-11 (6B41): complex post-traumatic stress disorder — WHO description
- Cloitre M. et al. (2018): the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) — development and validation of a self-report measure of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
- Padun M. et al. (2022): the Russian version of the ITQ — adaptation and validation on 429 respondents, two-factor model confirmed, Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy
- Kindred R. et al. (2025): meta-analytic confirmatory factor analysis of the ITQ across 57 studies (N=43,066) — six clusters and two second-order factors confirmed, Assessment
- Karatzias T. et al. (2023): distinguishing ICD-11 CPTSD from borderline personality disorder — clinical guide, The British Journal of Psychiatry
- Karatzias T. et al. (2019): comorbidity of PTSD and CPTSD in a representative adult sample — depression and generalised anxiety, Depression and Anxiety
- Huynh P.A. et al. (2025): prevalence of CPTSD — systematic review and meta-analysis of 167 studies, 6.2% globally, Psychiatry Research
- ISTSS: guidelines position paper on complex PTSD in adults
- SAMHSA TIP 57: trauma-informed care — the principle of not eliciting details of the event
This test is educational: it does not diagnose and does not rule anything out — that is done by a clinician in person. The thresholds for the conditions are ours, not clinical cut-offs. The reading prescribes no treatment, discusses no medication, teaches no memory-processing technique and neither overturns nor confirms a diagnosis you already have. The test is for adults. A similar picture is produced by depression, long exhaustion, a borderline personality pattern and the aftermath of illness or loss. If things are dangerous or unbearable right now, help is needed immediately: call your local emergency number or a crisis line.