ptsd Ptsd Possible 2ndary Acute Stress Disorder

[spike]

PTSD according to DSM IV-TR by the American Psychiatric Association indicates PTSD as Anxiety Disorder 309.81 with a traumatic event in which the person was exposed to a traumatic event in which experienced, witnessed or confronted with or threatened death or serious injury or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others in which the person's response involved intense fear, helpessness or horror. The event is persistently reexperienced in one of the following ways distressing recollections, images, thoughts or perceptions, distressing dreams, feeling the traumatic event were recurring, psychological distress, reactivity on exposure to cues that symbolize an aspect of the traumatic event. persistent avoidance of stimuli, efforts to avoid everything regarding that trauma, diminished interest in significant activities, feeling of detachment sense of foreshortened future, difficulty falling asleep, irritability, outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, hypervigilance and startle response. Chronic is 3 months. Acute is practially same thing. except dissociative symptoms subjective sense of numbing, detachment, assence of emotional responsiveness, being in a daze, derealization, depersonalization, dissociative amnesia about something regarding the trauma

Would it be an easy association between the two, I feel both of these.....and i wonder if im being treated for the right one or if they both could be existant of one or the other.

[Philip Rogers]

You probably have PTSD and they've just missed diagnosed you. If I recall correctly, acute stress disorder becomes PTSD after a period of time, if not resolved within a specific time period. jmo

pr

[mountain tyme]

Spike Wrote..

"Would it be an easy association between the two, I feel both of these.....and i wonder if im being treated for the right one or if they both could be existant of one or the other"

What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD?

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that involves a very specific reaction following exposure to an extremely traumatic event or stressor (e.g., a serious injury to oneself, witnessing an act of violence, hearing about something horrible that has happened to someone you are close to).

Data from a number of studies indicates that between 51 and 89 percent of adults are exposed to at least one potentially traumatizing event in their lifetime. An immediate stress reaction (including many of the symptoms of PTSD) that disrupts daily functioning for a short time is a normal response to a traumatic event. How a person copes with his or her immediate reaction to the trauma, as well as other psychological and biological factors appear to contribute to the risk of developing more prolonged difficulties, including full blown PTSD. The prevalence rates of PTSD vary depending on the study reviewed. In one study, the lifetime prevalence rate of PTSD was 8%.

What is Acute Stress Disorder?

Like PTSD, acute stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that involves a very specific reaction following exposure to a traumatic event or stressor (e.g., a serious injury to oneself, witnessing an act of violence, hearing about something horrible that has happened to someone you are close to). However, the duration of acute stress disorder is shorter than that for PTSD. For a diagnosis of acute stress disorder, the full range of symptoms must be present for at least two days and no more than four weeks. If the symptoms persist for longer than four weeks, a diagnosis of PTSD should be considered. It is normal to have some symptoms following a trauma and a diagnosis of acute stress disorder is given only if all the necessary features are present

hope this helps...

MT

[john999]

Spike

I had some of the symptoms you describe after having a panic attack. These anxiety symptoms overlap from one anxiety disorder to another. I had and have the dissociative reaction and derealizaion and depersonalization. I used to try and explain this to doctors at the VA and they just hung the diagnosis of schizophrenia on me. After a real emotional shock a person can become pretty disorganized and disoriented. In the bad old days the VA did not seem to understand this and the Army just racked it up to bad behavior. They will only rate you for one mental condition so it does not matter what they call it and treatments are the same medication wise for anxiety.

[Testvet]

I have read some articles in the past where the military is diagnosing Acute Stress Disorder rather than PTSD as ASD is supposed to be a short duration problem and not the same label that PTSD diagnosis suggests, the excuse is that they don't want to be the cause of some people not being able to get the job opportunities that would be available to them after service but would not be able to get if they had been diagnosed with PTSD like law enforcement etc, some of these new terms the military is using are supposed to be dignosed within 96 hours of the stressor incident and they are diagnosing it as long as six months after the incident, myself I think it is a way for them to weasel out of the PTSD claim, just like Gen Kiley stated in that hearing DOD is rewriting the rules on PTSD excuse me how can DOD rewrite a DSM IV manual for diagnosing mental health problems?