Acute stress disorder
Introduction
Acute stress disorder (ASD) is a condition marked by acute stress reactions occurring within one month following a traumatic experience. These stress reactions comprise intrusive memories of the trauma, avoidance of stimuli reminding the patient of the event, poor mood, dissociation symptoms (including derealization and forgetfulness), avoidance of reminders, and raised arousal. Should major symptoms last more than one month, a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis should be considered. ASD characterizes a population of persons experiencing great suffering after a traumatic event outside that is reasonable for an adjustment condition.
How Common Is ASD?
Studies on ASD differ in terms of the instruments applied and the ASD rates discovered. Within one month of a trauma, survivors exhibit ASD rates ranging from 6% to 33% overall. Different kinds of trauma affect rates differently. For instance, survivors of typhoons or other natural calamities have reduced the incidence of ASD. Survivors of violent events such as mass shootings, assaults, and robberies exhibit higher-end rates of that range.
Causes
Why people react to terrible circumstances in different ways is unknown. One explanation makes use of the idea of “fear conditioning.” When your body reacts fearfully to certain stimuli connected to a traumatic incident, this occurs. The smell of fast food in your car at night after a car accident may cause future anxiety. Some persons may use extinction learning, which entails a progressive decrease in reaction to the painful triggers, to adjust to fear conditioning. If this doesn’t work, you can get PTSD and acute stress disorder.
Some persons are more likely to develop the illness after being exposed to a traumatic experience. Study: Some people may be more susceptible to acute stress illnesses. A graphic event, whether witnessed, heard, or threatened, can trigger an acute stress disorder. The incident could put their lives or those of others in peril. Sexual assault, torture, abuse, crime, war, terrorism, natural disasters, and accidents are examples of such occurrences. The likelihood of an individual getting acute stress disorder can be influenced by the event’s severity, proximity, length, and history of trauma.
Symptoms
Symptoms of acute stress disorder might appear during or within a month of a very traumatic incident. The symptoms may last from two days to up to four weeks. A diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder may be considered if the symptoms persist for more than four weeks.
Dissociation
- This phrase describes feeling emotionally numb, mentally distant from reality, bewildered, or “tuned out.” You may have nightmares, “flashbacks,” or recurrent memories of the incident that seem incredibly vivid if you have acute stress disorder.
- Anything that reminds you of the incident, such as people, places, things, or situations, may be avoided. Even when there is no real threat, you could experience anxiety and distress. You can have additional symptoms that resemble those of PTSD.
- Your symptoms may make it difficult for you to accomplish daily duties and may cause problems in your social life, career, or educational pursuits.
- A major depressive episode may strike certain individuals with acute stress disorders, who may experience extreme feelings of helplessness and despair.
Prolonged symptoms that ultimately lead to a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder are common in people with untreated acute stress disorders.
Diagnosis
To diagnose ASD, your primary care physician or mental health specialist will inquire about your symptoms and the traumatic event. It’s critical to rule out other factors like:
- Adverse pharmacological responses to conditions treated with prescribed medications
- There are no more mental health conditions.
Discussing the stressful experience and your symptoms with your physician is a good idea. Your doctor will listen to your worries and use a systematic assessment or questions to get additional information from you. Your doctor will determine if your symptoms meet the diagnostic criteria for an acute stress disorder and any other coexisting conditions.
Treatment
Many people recover from acute stress disorder once they are removed from the traumatic event and receive suitable assistance, such as understanding, empathy for their suffering, and a chance to express what happened and how they responded. For some people, describing their experience more than once is helpful. Usually, friends and family may provide this assistance. In other places, mental health professionals like doctors can be useful. Some medications, such as antidepressants, are sometimes prescribed by doctors to help individuals sleep or reduce anxiety, but they are often not given unless they are needed to treat a co-occurring problem.
Personal Development
Both during and following a crisis or trauma, self-care is essential. There exist three elements to self-care:
- Individual security
- Physical wellness and useful assistance
- Being aware
Psychotherapy
Education can enable a person to grasp the stress reaction and the natural path of symptom alleviation. Once the person can describe the trauma in their words, cognitive-behavioral therapy can help by letting them process traumatic memories in a secure environment and correct maladaptive ideas about the experience or responses to it.
Medications
None of the drugs specifically help to lessen the symptoms of acute stress disorder or stop it from progressing into full-fledged PTSD. Medications can aid with anxiety, sleeplessness, and agitation, yet long use seems to impede recovery.
