POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)

Do you think that “POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)” does not apply to you? Read on!

What is post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD?

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or living through a deeply frightening or dangerous event.

When in extraordinary stress or fear, it’s natural to feel many split-second changes in the body to prepare to defend against the danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a healthy reaction meant to protect a person from harm. But in PTSD, this reaction is changed or damaged. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re no longer in danger.

Who gets PTSD?

Anyone. At any age. From war veterans and survivors of physical and sexual assault to victims of family dysfunction, bullying, extraordinary loss, or any other significant event that resulted in a real or perceived loss of personal security, surety, or safety.

Re-experiencing symptoms may cause problems in a person’s everyday routine. They can start with the person’s own thoughts and feelings. Words, objects, or situations that are reminders of the event can also trigger re-experiencing.

DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD

The diagnostic criteria are specified below. (Annotated for clarity)

Criterion A: stressor

The person was exposed to death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence, as follows: (one required)

1. Direct exposure.
2. Witnessing, in person.
3. Indirectly, by learning that a close relative or close friend was exposed to trauma. If the event involved actual or threatened death, it must have been violent or accidental.
4. Repeated or extreme indirect exposure to aversive details of the event(s), usually in the course of professional duties (e.g., first responders, collecting body parts; professionals repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse). This does not include indirect non-professional exposure through electronic media, television, movies, or pictures.

Criterion B: intrusion symptoms

The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in the following way(s): (one required)

1. Recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive memories.
2. Traumatic nightmares.
3. Dissociative reactions (e.g., flashbacks) which may occur on a continuum from brief episodes to complete loss of consciousness.
4. Intense or prolonged distress after exposure to traumatic reminders.
5. Marked physiologic reactivity after exposure to trauma-related stimuli.

Criterion C: avoidance

Persistent effortful avoidance of distressing trauma-related stimuli after the event:

1. Trauma-related thoughts or feelings.
2. Trauma-related external reminders (e.g., people, places, conversations, activities, objects, or situations).

Criterion D: negative alterations in cognition and mood

Negative alterations in cognitions and mood that began or worsened after the traumatic event:

1. Persistent (and often distorted) negative beliefs and expectations about oneself or the world (e.g., “I am bad,” “The world is completely dangerous”).

1. Persistent distorted blame of self or others for causing the traumatic event or for resulting consequences.
2. Persistent negative trauma-related emotions (e.g., fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame).
3. Markedly diminished interest in (pre-traumatic) significant activities.
4. Feeling alienated from others (e.g., detachment or estrangement).
5. Constricted affect: persistent inability to experience positive emotions.

Criterion E: alterations in arousal and reactivity

Trauma-related alterations in arousal and reactivity that began or worsened after the traumatic event:

1. Irritable or aggressive behavior
2. Self-destructive or reckless behavior
3. Hypervigilance
4. Exaggerated startle response

Criterion F: duration

Persistence of symptoms (in Criteria B, C, D, and E) for more than one month.

Criterion G: functional significance

Significant symptom-related distress or functional impairment (e.g., social, occupational).

Criterion H: exclusion

In addition to meeting criteria for diagnosis, an individual experiences high levels of either of the following in reaction to trauma-related stimuli:

1. Depersonalization: the experience of being an outside observer of or detached from oneself (e.g., feeling as if “this is not happening to me” or one were in a dream).
2. Derealization: experience of unreality, distance, or distortion (e.g., “things are not real”).