Different stress-related conditions can share some features while needing different care. A clinician considers the event, timing, symptoms, context, and functional impact. This page stays with current needs; you can discuss the effects before deciding how much event information to share.
How to use this page
Choose a recent, manageable example. Write, draw, or discuss your answers. Skip anything that does not fit; this page is not a diagnostic assessment.
Describe changes and timing
Note what changed in sleep, attention, mood, relationships, or daily activities, and approximately when. Include whether the situation is ongoing and what resources or protections are available now.
Clarify the assessment process
Ask why particular information is needed, what can wait, and how diagnosis would guide care. An assessment should consider other explanations and avoid treating every difficult response as a disorder.
Reflection prompts
Use these questions in conversation, on paper, or in the downloaded PDF. You may adapt or skip a prompt.
What changes have you noticed since the stressful experience, without describing the event itself?
Approximately when did these changes begin, and how do they affect daily life?
Is the stress ongoing, and what present support or protection is needed?
What assessment question or disclosure boundary would you like to communicate?
Facilitator notes and adaptation
Differentiate trauma-related conditions, adjustment responses, grief, medical effects, and ordinary stress within competence. Assess ongoing threat and safeguarding. Avoid implying that symptom matching establishes PTSD or requiring detailed narratives for this worksheet.
Sources behind the concepts
These sources inform the concepts in this original resource. They do not validate or endorse this specific page.