When mobile users perform a Google search for PTSD or a related query on their mobile device, the search engine will now automatically offer them resources and a validated screening questionnaire for the condition.
The effort — a partnership between Google, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD — looks to increase the number of people with PTSD who seek help for their condition by conveniently surfacing an online version of the PC-PTSD-5 screening tool.
“To help people understand PTSD, we’ve collaborated with Google to provide simple, direct access to information that may help those who are suffering,” Paula Schnurr, executive director of the National Center for PTSD, and Teri Brister, director of information and support for NAMI, wrote in a recent Google blog post.
Currently, only about half of the estimated 14 million US adults who experience PTSD yearly will seek professional help for the condition, they wrote.
Following a mobile Google search for PTSD or related terms, the search engine will surface a “Knowledge Panel” that provides an overview of the condition consisting of facts and treatment information. The panel also includes an entry titled “check if you may have PTSD,” which directs users to the PC-PTSD-5 questionnaire. The anonymous tests assigns users a score that indicates the likelihood of PTSD, contextualizes the results, and offers suggestions on potential symptoms regardless of a high or low score. These information from the questionnaire can be a “crucial step” toward proper care, Schnurr and Brister wrote.