mental health disorders
Acute Stress Disorder
Introduction
Acute stress disorder is an intense, unpleasant, and dysfunctional reaction beginning shortly after an overwhelming traumatic event and lasting less than a month. If symptoms persist longer than a month, people are diagnosed as having Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (PTSD). (See also Overview of Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders .) People with acute stress disorder develop acute stress reactions that appear within a month of their exposure to a traumatic event. These stress reactions include having increased anxiety, mentally re-experiencing the traumatic event, avoiding reminders of the trauma, displaying negative mood, developing Overview of Dissociative Disorders (including derealization and amnesia), and showing increased arousal. People with this disorder may have Overview of Dissociative Disorders . For example, they may feel emotionally numb or disconnected from themselves. They may feel that they are not real. The degree of distress following a traumatic event in people with acute stress disorder tends to be greater than that experienced in people with an adjustment disorder. The number of people with acute stress disorder is unknown. The likelihood of developing acute stress disorder is greater when traumatic events are severe or recurrent. 