PS280 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Acute Stress Reaction, Stressor, Attachment Disorder
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Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders:
-diagnoses include reactive attachment disorder, disinhibited social engagement disorder, PTSD, acute
stress disorder, adjustment disorders
-event must have involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical
integrity of self or others, and have been experienced w intense fear, helplessness, or horror
-individual continues to re-experience intrusive, unwanted recollections of past traumatic event
(flashbacks) + distress when exposed to cues that remind them of some aspect of the trauma
-patient may engage in avoidance of stimuli associated w traumatic event (hallmark feature of anxiety)
Negative alternations in cognitions and mood associated w traumatic event:
-may have inability to remember an important aspect of traumatic event
-persistent and exaggerated negative beliefs/expectations about oneself, others, the world
-persistant, distorted cognitions about cause/consequences of event that lead individual to blame self
-persistent negative emotional state and diminished interest or participation in significant activities
-feelings of detachment or estrangement from others and emotional numbing
-PTSD symptoms also include irritable behaviour, angry outbursts, reckless behaviour, hypervigilance,
exaggerated startle response, problems w concentration, sleep disturbance
-most experience flashbacks w intense fear but some who dissociate display relative absence of
physiological reactivity, appear to be “spaced out” / seem momentarily non-responsive to environment
-popular interview is the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale
-essential to determine if additional disorders are present as most PTSD patients are comorbid
Etiology:
-in sample of natural disaster survivors, only 40% meet criteria for PTSD