A person may experience acute stress disorder if he or she has feelings of extreme horror, fear or helplessness during a traumatic event. Such events may include witnessing death or bodily harm.
Symptoms of acute stress disorder are distressing, and can seriously affect a person's day-to-day life. Sufferers may endure psychological effects, experience problems with social relationships, and have difficulty functioning normally in their working environment.
Dissociative Symptoms
Dissociation describes the inability to make the connection between things that are associated with each other. Dissociative symptoms may include:
- Feeling numb and detached, and having no emotional response to the trauma even though it was upsetting.
- Lack of awareness of the surroundings; the feeling of being in a daze.
- Depersonalisation. This is when a person feels disconnected from himself; he may look in the mirror and not identify with the person looking back at him. He does not feel as though he belongs to his body; his body does not seem real.
- Derealisation. This is a feeling of being disconnected from the outside world; the outside world does not seem real.
- Dissociative amnesia, which means that certain parts of the trauma cannot be remembered.
What is Anxiety Disorder?
Anxiety is a normal response experienced by people when they are threatened or when they need to be particularly alert, such as during an exam. The level of anxiety experienced during acute stress disorder is greater than is considered normal. In fact, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) classifies acute stress disorder as an anxiety disorder.
People with acute stress disorder may be overly anxious, experience trouble sleeping, have difficulty concentrating, and feel irritable and restless. They may also be overly alert to potential threats (hypervigilance), and may startle easily with an over-exaggerated response.
Re-experiencing and Avoidance of the Traumatic Event
Acute stress disorder may cause the sufferer to involuntarily relive the traumatic event in a number of different ways. These may include dreaming, illusions, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and images, and feelings of distress when he or she is reminded of the event.
Deliberately attempting to avoid things that serve as reminders is not uncommon for people with acute stress disorder. They may try to ignore their own thoughts and feelings about the upsetting event, keep away from certain places, refrain from conversations with particular people, or avoid taking part in some activities.
In order for a diagnosis of acute stress disorder to be made, symptoms must have been present for at least two days and a maximum of four weeks, and have started within four weeks of the occurrence of the traumatic event. If symptoms of acute stress disorder persist for more than four weeks, a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder may be considered instead.
Generalised anxiety disorder is another type of anxiety disorder. To find out more, read What is Generalised Anxiety Disorder? For information about coping with anxiety, Natural Remedies to Alleviate Anxiety may be helpful.
Resources:
AllPsych Online. "Acute Stress Disorder" (Accessed 4th August 2010).
American Academy of Family Physicians. "Acute and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder After Spontaneous Abortion" (Accessed 4th August 2010).
International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. "Dissociation and Dissociative Disorders" (Accessed 4th August 2010).
NYU Child Study Center. "Acute Stress Disorder" (Accessed 4th August 2010).
Sharon Kirby - Sharon is a freelance health writer and contributes to various print and online publications. Writing credits include Nursing Times, Good ...
