Stress and Adjustment Disorders

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Stress and Adjustment Disorders

• Acute Stress Disorders
• Adjustment Disorder
• PTSD
• Major Anxiety Disorder
• Eating Disorders

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Acute Stress Disorders

• Stress
• The adjustive demands placed on an organism.
• The organisms internal biological and
  psychological responses to demands.
• Stress is a by-product of poor or inadequate
  coping.
• Eustress (positive stress) and distress (negative
  stress) tax a persons coping skills

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Acute Stress Disorders

• Factors predesposing a person to stress
• Nature of the stressor.
• Experience of the crisis.
• Life changes.
• Persons perception of the stressor.
• Individuals stress tolerance.
• A lack of external resourcesand social support.

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Acute Stress Disorder

• Effects of severe stress
• Extreme or prolonged stress can bring about
  extensive physical and psychological problems
• Stress can affect the sympathetic nervous system
• Stress can affect the immune system
• Lowered efficacy
• Depletion of adaptive resources
• Wear and tear on the biological system
• Severe personality and physical deterioration
• Death
• Allostasis The process of adaptation or
  achieving
• stability through change.

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Acute Stress DisorderAdjustment Disorder

• Adjustment Disorder
• A person is said to have an adjustment disorder
  if the persons response to a common stressor
• Is maladaptive
• Occurs within 3 months of the stressor
• Stressors that typically cause adjustment
  disorder include
• Unemployment
• Bereavement
• Divorce or separation

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Acute Stress Disorder

• Acute stress disorder
• Occurs within 4 weeks of a traumatic event.
• Lasts for a minimum of 2 days and a maximum of 4
  weeks.
• If the symptoms last longer, the appropriate
  diagnosis is PTSD

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Acute Stress DisorderPTSD

• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Severe psychological and physical symptoms can
  result from sudden unexpected environmental
  crises.
• These severe symptoms can include
• Persistently re-experiencing the traumatic event
• Persistently avoiding stimuli associated with the
  trauma
• Chronic tension, irritability, and insomnia
• Impaired concentration and memory
• Feelings of depression

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Acute Stress DisorderPTSD

• Half of all US adults will experience a traumatic
• event, but only 7.8 will develop PTSD.
• PTSD Prevalence
• Rape
• Military
• Other less prevalent
• Imprisonment
• Forced migration
• Being held hostage
• Torture

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Acute Stress DisorderPTSD

• Rape
• Most common cause of post-traumatic stress
  disorder in women.
• Coping stages
• Anticipatory phase
• Begins before the rape
• Impact phase
• Occurs during the rape
• Post-traumatic recoil phase
• Begins immediately after the rape
• Reconstitution phase
• Leaving the emergency room until months later

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Acute Stress DisorderPTSD

• Rape
• Whether a rape victim will experience serious
  psychological problems depends to a large extent
  on her
• Past coping skills
• Level of psychological functioning
• Women who disclose rape tend to have more
  positive and fewer negative reactions.

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Acute Stress DisorderPTSD

• Military Combat
• Post-traumatic stress disorder is quite common in
  soldiers especially
• Soldiers involved in abusive violence
• Soldiers involved in graves registration
• Prisoners of war

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Acute Stress DisorderPTSD

• Treatment
• Short-term crisis therapy
• Debriefing sessions
• Direct exposure therapy
• Telephone hotlines
• Psychotropic medications
• Suppression of natural warning signs
• Future reliance on medication