Acute Stress Disorder

Index

Anxiety Disorder Flow Chart
Criteria
Definition
Treatment ( Psychotherapy )
Treatment ( Pharmacotherapy )

Definition

Acute Stress Disorder is a anxiety disorder that develops within one month after a severe traumatic event or experience.  Distressing dissociative symptoms are common in the person with Acute Stress Disorder, including depersonalization, derealization, or dissociative amnesia. These symptoms can effect any sex or age group. Anxiety, irritability, and depression are also common in people who have Acute Stress Disorder. People with Acute Stress Disorder have a diminished ability to experience pleasure. There may be problems falling or staying asleep. A person with Acute Stress Disorder will avoid any reminders of the trauma but re-experiencing the event in dreams, nightmares, or painful memories.

ONSET:

COMMON: Any age,  symptoms start during or immediately after trauma.

Diagnostic Criteria - Mental Health made easy.

ALL THE FOLLOWING MUST BE AFTER TRAUMA.
NOT DUE TO A SUBSTANCE, GENERAL MEDICAL CONDITION, OR OTHER DISORDER.
SEE: CAUSING ANXIETY.

SYMPTOMS MUST LAST 2 DAYS TO 4 WEEKS. LONGER THEN 4 WEEKS.
SEE POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER ( PTSD. )

Must have been exposed to a traumatic event or experience involving intense fear, horror, or helplessness. The event or experience must involve a threat of death, serious injury, or physical integrity. The event or experience may be to yourself or to others around you.

Three or more of the following dissociative symptoms that developed during or after the event or experience:

1. Loss of emotion, numbing, or detachment.
2. Diminished awareness of surroundings.
3. Depersonalization.
4. Derealization.
5. Dissociative amnesia.

The event or experience must be re-experienced in at least one of the following:

1. Distressing recollections of the event or experience.
2. Dreams that are reoccurring and distressful.
3. Reliving the event or experience in the form of flashbacks, hallucinations, images, illusions, or thoughts.
4. Reacting in a physiological manner to any aspect of the event or experience

Avoiding any thing associated with the trauma. Avoiding any thoughts or feelings about the trauma,  including not wishing to engage in any conversation about the event or experience.

Avoidance of activities, places, persons, or things that set off feelings about the trauma.
Persistent indicators of increased arousal. ( E.g., Problems with falling or staying asleep, Having problems concentrating, Hypervigiland, Response to being startled is overstate. )

Must be impairment in important areas of functioning. (E.g., work, social life, ... )

SYMPTOMS MUST LAST 2 DAYS TO 4 WEEKS. IF SYMPTOMS LONGER THEN 4 WEEKS SEE: POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER ( PTSD. )

Treatment ( Psychotherapy )

Adlerian Therapy
Behavior Therapy
Existential Therapy
Gestalt Therapy
Person-centered Therapy
Psychoanalytic
Rational-emotive Therapy
Reality Therapy
Transactional Analysis

Treatment ( Pharmacotherapy )

Alprazolam Intensol
Alzapam
Ativan
BuSpar
Centrax
Equanil
Inderal
Inderal LA
Klonopin
Libritabs
Librium
Lipoxide
Luvox
Meprospan
Miltown
Neuramate
Novo-Alprazol
Paxil
Paxipam
Serax
T-Quil
Tranxene
Tranxene - SD
Tranxene T
Valium
Valrelease
Versed
Xanax