
Acute Stress Disorder
Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) is a mental health problem that can occur in the first month after a traumatic event. The symptoms of ASD are like PTSD symptoms, but you must have them for longer than one month to have PTSD. What is the timeline for acute stress disorder?
The diagnosis of ASD can only be considered from 3 days to one month following a traumatic event (commonly referred to as the acute phase). If posttraumatic symptoms persist beyond a month, the clinician would assess for the presence of PTSD.
Diagnostic Criteria
A. Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violation in one (or more) of the following ways:
- Directly experiencing the traumatic event(s).
- Witnessing, in person, the event(s) as it occurred to others.
- Learning that the event(s) occurred to a close family member or close friend. Note: In cases of actual or threatened death of a family member or friend, the event(s) must have been violent or accidental.
- Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic event(s) (e.g., first responders collecting human remains, police officers repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse).
D. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupa¬ tional, or other important areas of functioning.
E. The disturbance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., medication or alcohol) or another medical condition (e.g., mild traumatic brain injury) and is not better explained by brief psychotic disorder.