Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual's ability to cope. As an effect of psychological trauma, PTSD is less frequent and more enduring than the more commonly seen post traumatic stress (also known as acute stress response). Diagnostic symptoms for PTSD include re-experiencing the original trauma(s) through flashbacks or nightmares, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and increased arousal—such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger, and hypervigilance. Formal diagnostic criteria (both DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10) require that the symptoms last more than one month and cause significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
Read more about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Classification, Epidemiology, Public Policy Response
Famous quotes containing the words stress and/or disorder:
“Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing ones mind.”
—W. Somerset Maugham (18741966)
“When the soul drifts uncertainly between life and the dream, between the minds disorder and the return to cool reflection, it is in religious thought that we should seek consolation.”
—Gérard De Nerval (18081855)