User:Mjcorlew/Acute Stress Disorder

Difference between PTSD and ASD
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health (DSM) is a diagnostic handbook used by mental health professions in the United States. It contains the criteria for diagnosing mental disorders in individuals that are experiencing any of the various mental health disorders listed in the manual. The DSM-5 (5th edition of the DSM) makes a distinction between Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Below are the criteria for PTSD and ASD as listed in the DSM-5.

Traumatic event
In order to be diagnosed with PTSD, an individual must experience “exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence”. This event is called a traumatic event, and exposure to such events can include directly experiencing the event, witnessing the event occur to another person, learning that the event occurred to a family member or friend, or experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to details of the event.

Intrusions
The individual has to experience one or more recurrent intrusive symptoms, beginning after the event occurred. These can include “involuntary and intrusive distressing memories” about the event, distressing dreams about the event, dissociative reactions (such as flashbacks) that make the individual feel as if the event was recurring, or intense psychological distress when exposed to “internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble” the event (i.e. being triggered).

Avoidance
The individual should have persistent avoidance of stimuli that are associated with the event. This can include avoiding or attempting to avoid either “distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings” that are associated with the event, or external reminders (such as people, places, activities, etc.) that trigger these distressing memories, thoughts or feelings.

Negative Mood
The individual should experience two or more symptoms of negative changes in thoughts and mood. These include the following: the inability to remember details of the event; negative beliefs or expectations of themselves, others, or the world; distorted thoughts about the causes or consequences of the event that lead to blaming themselves or others; negative emotional state, decreased interest in participation in activities; feelings of detachment from others; and the inability to experience positive emotions.

Arousal
The individual has to experience two or more of the following symptoms of altered arousal or reactivity: irritability or angry outbursts that are expressed as verbal or physical aggression directed toward people or objects; “reckless or self-destructive behavior”, “hypervigilance”; “exaggerated startle response”; “problems with concentration”; or “sleep disturbance” such as difficulty falling and staying asleep.

Lastly, these symptoms should cause distress or impairment in important areas of functioning, and should persist for more than one month.

ASD
The individual should have had exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. Their symptoms should last from three days to one month after initial exposure to the event, and should cause significant distress and impairment.

The individual should have nine or more of the following types of symptoms :

Intrusions
These symptoms can include any of the intrusive symptoms listed in the criteria for PTSD.

Negative Mood
These include the inability to experience positive emotions such as happiness, satisfaction, or loving feelings.

Dissociation
These include an altered sense of reality regarding an individual’s surroundings or themselves, such as seeing oneself from another’s point of view, being dazed, or feeling like time is moving slowly. It also includes the inability to remember details of the event.

Avoidance
These symptoms include attempting to avoid “distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings” that are associated with the event, or attempting to avoid external reminders (such as people, places, activities, etc.) that trigger these distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings.

Arousal
These include any of the symptoms of altered arousal or reactivity listed in the criteria for PTSD (except for reckless and self-destructive behavior).

Conclusion
As seen above, there are less specific criteria for ASD in comparison to PTSD, and the individual is required to experience less symptoms to be diagnosed with ASD than PTSD. In addition to this, ASD symptoms last for less time than PTSD symptoms; for a diagnosis of ASD to be given, the individual must have experienced symptoms for three days to a month, while for a diagnosis of PTSD, the symptoms must last for longer than a month. Because of this, an untreated or severe case of ASD may lead to a PTSD diagnosis if the individual’s symptoms last for over a month. In addition, an initial diagnosis of ASD may be given, but this is not always the case. It is important to distinguish between ASD and PTSD because an individual can only be diagnosed with PTSD if symptoms last longer than a month, and if the individual receives an initial diagnosis of ASD, they can begin treatment before the disorder escalates to PTSD.