FOR PRACTIONERS  

The Nervous-System
Symptom Screener

A quick clinical screen: could this client's chronic symptoms be
nervous-system driven?

One tool, one win.

Bring one client to mind and run through the screen below. It doesn't diagnose — it flags whether the nervous system may be driving or amplifying their chronic symptoms, so you know how to proceed.

Two things are true at once: the symptoms are 100% real, and the nervous system can still be generating and amplifying them. Structure alone doesn't reliably explain chronic symptoms — for instance, 64% of people with no back pain show disc bulges on MRI.

tHE SCREENER

Check each that fits this client:

Scoring & Interpretation

Signals across different areas matter more than the raw number — use your clinical judgment alongside it.

0–3

Low likelihood

The nervous system probably isn't the main driver right now. Continue usual care and re-screen if symptoms persist past a few months.

4–6

Possible — worth exploring

Watch how symptoms track with stress and emotion, and consider a careful introduction of the nervous-system lens.

7–12

Strong likelihood

This client is a strong candidate for nervous-system-informed work. Real symptoms plus a system stuck in protection is exactly the pattern this approach is built for.

Please Note.

A screen, not a diagnosis. Use it alongside medical care, never instead of it. Make sure the client has had appropriate medical evaluation, and refer for red flags — progressive neurological changes (new weakness, numbness, loss of coordination, bowel/bladder changes), unexplained weight loss, fevers or night sweats, or symptoms that are relentlessly worsening. Nervous-system and medical causes can coexist; when in doubt, collaborate