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The below is for reference only,
NOT for self diagnostic
reasons
Many Survivors wonder what PTSD is,
so
here are the PTSD diagnostic criteria.
309.81 Post-traumatic Stress
Disorder
A. The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in
which both of the following were present:
(1) the person experienced, witnessed, or was con-fronted
with an event or events that involved actual or
threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the
physical integrity of self or others
(2) the person's response involved intense fear,
helplessness, or horror.
Note: In children, this may be expressed instead by
disorganized or agitated behavior
B. The traumatic event is
persistently re-experienced in one (or more) 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 on awakening or when
intoxicated). Note: In young 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) physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or
external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the
traumatic event
C. Persistent avoidance of
stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general
responsiveness (not present before the trauma), as
indicated by three (or more) 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 a foreshortened future (e.g., does not
expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a normal
life span)
D. Persistent symptoms of
increased arousal (not present
before the trauma), as indicated by two (or more) 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
E. Duration of the disturbance
(symptoms in Criteria B, C, and D) is more than 1 month.
F. The 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 3 months
Chronic: if duration of symptoms is 3 months or more
Specify if:
With Delayed Onset: if onset of symptoms is at least 6
months after the stressor
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