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If you are in an immediate crisis, please go to your nearest Emergency Room, or call 911, or call 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) to talk to someone right now. DSM-IV-TR criteria for PTSDIn 2000, the American Psychiatric Association revised the PTSD diagnostic criteria in the fourth edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR). The diagnostic criteria (Criterion A-F) are specified below. Diagnostic criteria for PTSD include a history of exposure to a traumatic event meeting two criteria and symptoms from each of three symptom clusters: intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms, and hyper-arousal symptoms. A fifth criterion concerns duration of symptoms and a sixth assesses functioning. Criterion A: stressorThe person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following have been present: 1. The person has experienced, witnessed, or been confronted with an event or events that involve actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of oneself or others. 2. The person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror. Note: in children, it may be expressed instead by disorganized or agitated behavior. Criterion B: intrusive recollectionThe traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in at least one of the following ways: 1. Recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or perceptions. Note: in young children, repetitive play may occur in which themes or aspects of the trauma are expressed. 2. Recurrent distressing dreams of the event. Note: in children, there may be frightening dreams without recognizable content 3. Acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (includes a sense of reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations, and dissociative flashback episodes, including those that occur upon awakening or when intoxicated). Note: in children, trauma-specific reenactment may occur. 4. Intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event. 5. Physiologic reactivity upon exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event Criterion C: avoidant/numbingPersistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma), as indicated by at least three of the following: 1. Efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma 2. Efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the trauma 3. Inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma 4. Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities 5. Feeling of detachment or estrangement from others 6. Restricted range of affect (e.g., unable to have loving feelings) 7. Sense of foreshortened future (e.g., does not expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a normal life span) Criterion D: hyper-arousalPersistent symptoms of increasing arousal (not present before the trauma), indicated by at least two of the following: 1. Difficulty falling or staying asleep 2. Irritability or outbursts of anger 3. Difficulty concentrating 4. Hyper-vigilance 5. Exaggerated startle response Criterion E: durationDuration of the disturbance (symptoms in B, C, and D) is more than one month. Criterion F: functional significanceThe disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Specify if:Acute: if duration of symptoms is less than three months Chronic: if duration of symptoms is three months or more Specify if:With or Without delay onset: Onset of symptoms at least six months after the stressor ReferencesAmerican Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders DSM-IV-TR ( Fourth ed.). Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Association. From the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,
US Department of Veterans Affairs. What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? Trauma Exposure MeasuresChart - Trauma Exposure Measures PTSD Screening InstrumentsBelow is a list of links to information on select PTSD Screens, brief questionnaires completed in order to identify people who are more likely to have PTSD. A positive response to the screen does not necessarily indicate that a patient has Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. However, a positive response does indicate that a patient may have PTSD or trauma-related problems and further investigation of trauma symptoms by a mental-health professional may be warranted. Chart - Screens for PTSD PLEASE NOTE: Screens are to be used to determine possible problems, and positive cases should be followed up by assessment with a structured interview for PTSD. Common Reactions to TraumaPeople experience a range of reactions following trauma. Here you will find information on what these common reactions are, including anger, nightmares, sleep problems, and more. Avoidance If you are in an immediate crisis, please go to your nearest Emergency Room, or call 911, or call 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) to talk to someone right now. |