Trauma-Related Disorders / Symptoms and Diagnoses
Transcript
Dr. Jerman
The experience of psychological distress following a traumatic event varies from person to person. Dr. Mansfield, can you tell us about some symptoms of trauma-related disorders and how they are diagnosed?
Dr. Mansfield
Well, Dr. Jerman, traumatic events are naturally upsetting, and a wide range of responses, or symptoms, immediately following a traumatic event are normal and natural. These symptoms are generally grouped into five categories, including:
- Intrusion symptoms
- Negative mood
- Dissociative symptoms
- Avoidance symptoms, and
- Arousal symptoms
Intrusion symptoms include:
- Recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive distressing memories of the traumatic event
- Recurrent distressing dreams related to the event
- Flashbacks in which the individual feels or acts as if the event were recurring, and
- Intense or prolonged distress in response to reminders of the event
Negative mood refers to a persistent inability to experience positive emotions, such as happiness, satisfaction, or affection.
Dissociative symptoms include:
- An altered sense of reality, and
- An inability to remember an important aspect of the traumatic event that is not related to other factors, such as head injury, alcohol, or drugs
Avoidance symptoms include:
- Efforts to avoid distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings about the event, and
- Efforts to avoid reminders of the event
Finally, arousal symptoms include:
- Sleep disturbance
- Irritable behavior and angry outbursts
- Hyper-vigilance
- Problems with concentration, and
- Exaggerated startle response
When nine or more of these symptoms are present for more than three days, but less than a month, a person may be diagnosed with acute stress disorder. If symptoms persist for more than a month, they may be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
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