Acute Stress Disorder - National Center for PTSD

Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) is a mental health problem that can occur in the first month after a traumatic event. The symptoms of ASD are ... skiptopagecontent VA» HealthCare» PTSD:NationalCenterforPTSD »Understand»RelatedProblems » AcuteStressDisorder PTSD:NationalCenterforPTSD Menu Menu PTSD PTSDHome UnderstandPTSD WhatisPTSD? PTSDBasics MorePTSDTopics TypesofTrauma WarandCombat ViolenceandAbuse DisasterandMassViolence IsitPTSD? HowPTSDisAssessed CommonReactions DoIhavePTSD? HowCommonisPTSD? Adults Veterans Women ChildrenandTeens RelatedProblems Anger Depression TraumaticBrainInjury ChronicPain SleepProblems SubstanceMisuse Suicide Grief MoreRelatedProblems PTSDAwareness UnderstandPTSDTreatment TreatmentBasics TalkTherapy Medications GetHelp GetHelpinaCrisis FindaProvider HelpforVeterans Self-HelpandCoping ForFamiliesandFriends EffectsofPTSD HowCanIHelp? HowDoIGetSupport? 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Readingtime:minutes HowCommonIsASD? StudiesofASDvaryintermsofthetoolsusedandtheratesofASDfound.Overall,withinonemonthofatrauma,survivorsshowratesofASDrangingfrom6%to33%.Ratesdifferfordifferenttypesoftrauma.Forexample,survivorsofaccidentsordisasterssuchastyphoonsshowlowerratesofASD.Survivorsofviolencesuchasrobbery,assaults,andmassshootingsshowratesatthehigherendofthatrange. WhoIsatRiskforASDasaResultofTrauma? SeveralfactorscanplaceyouathigherriskfordevelopingASDafteratrauma: Havinggonethroughothertraumaticevents HavinghadPTSDinthepast Havinghadpriormentalhealthproblems Tendingtohavesymptoms,suchasnotknowingwhoorwhereyouare,whenconfrontedwithtrauma ReadFullArticleHideFullArticle DoesASDPredictPTSD? IfyouhaveASD,youareverylikelytogetPTSD.Researchhasfoundthatover80%ofpeoplewithASDhavePTSDsixmonthslater.NoteveryonewithASDwillgetPTSD,though. Also,thosewhodonotgetASDcanstilldevelopPTSDlateron.Studiesindicatethatasmallnumber(4%to13%)ofsurvivorswhodonotgetASDinthefirstmonthafteratraumawillgetPTSDinlatermonthsoryears. AreThereEffectiveTreatmentsforASD? Yes,atypeoftreatmentcalledcognitivebehavioraltherapy(CBT)hasbeenshowntohavepositiveresults.ResearchshowsthatsurvivorswhogetCBTsoonaftergoingthroughatraumaarelesslikelytogetPTSDsymptomslater.AmentalhealthcareprovidertrainedintreatmentfortraumacanjudgewhetherCBTmaybeusefulforatraumasurvivor. Anothertreatmentcalledpsychologicaldebriefing(PD)hassometimesbeenusedinthewakeofatraumaticevent.However,thereislittleresearchtobackitsuseforeffectivelytreatingASDorPTSD.ItshouldalsobenotedthatwithmoreseveretraumaorreactionssuchasPTSD,debriefingisnotrecommended. GoToProviderVersion UnderstandingPTSDandPTSDTreatment(PDF) AcompleteguidetoPTSDbasics. VetChange TakecontrolofyourdrinkingandPTSDsymptoms. MobileApps Appsforself-help,education,andsupportaftertrauma. 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