Reactions to stressful experiences

2012 ◽  
pp. 153-175
Author(s):  
Philip Cowen ◽  
Paul Harrison ◽  
Tom Burns
Keyword(s):  
Terminal Illness ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Severe Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stressful Experience ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Stressful Experiences

Chapter 8 begins with a description of the various components of the response to stressful events, including coping strategies and mechanisms of defence. The classification of reactions to stressful experience is discussed next. The various syndromes are then described, including acute stress reactions, post-traumatic stress disorder, special forms of response to severe stress, and adjustment disorders. The chapter ends with an account of special forms of adjustment reaction, including adjustment to bereavement (grief) and to terminal illness, and the problems of adults who experienced sexual abuse in childhood.

Reactions to stressful experiences

Psychiatry ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca McKnight ◽  
Jonathan Price ◽  
John Geddes
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Accidents ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Stress Disorders ◽  
Stressful Event ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stressful Experiences ◽  
Life Circumstances ◽  
Specific Reactions

In biological terms, stress literally means a force from the outside world acting upon an individual, and is a phenomenon we have all experienced. The term ‘stress’ was first used in the 1930s by the endocrin­ologist Hans Selye to describe the responses of la­boratory animals to various stimuli. Originally, Selye meant ‘stress’ to be the response of an organism to a perceived threat or ‘stressor’, but the term is now used to mean the stimulus rather than the response in some cases. When presented with a stressor of any type, everyone will produce a reaction to that stress, and this is a normal physiological event. However, if the reac­tion is prolonged, too intense, or atypical in some way, stress can become abnormal and cause problems. Stressful events, even when reacted to normally, are important contributors to the causes of many kinds of psychiatric disorder. In this chapter, we consider those psychiatric disorders that are specific reactions to stressful experiences. These may occur independently or alongside other psychiatric conditions and include: … ● acute stress reactions: short- term disorders after stressful events; ● post- traumatic stress disorder: a disorder following exceptionally severe stress; ● adjustment disorders: conditions occurring after a change in life circumstances; ● grief reactions: the normal and abnormal responses to bereavement; ● reactions to special kinds of acute stress: for example, traffic accidents, war, earthquakes, etc… For all these conditions, an identifiable stressor is a necessary but not always sufficient factor in its aetiology. GPs encounter the vast majority of patients with stress disorders who present to the health services, but all clinicians will see these patients in their clinical specialties. The reasons for this are threefold: … 1 Acute physical illness and its treatment are stressful. 2 Chronic illness or disability can result in substantial changes in life circumstances. 3 Clinicians treat people involved in other kinds of stressful experiences…. Everyone reacts to stress differently, and what consti­tutes a stressful event is therefore highly subjective. However, there are certain situations that are likely to be experienced as stressful by anyone. The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale is a list of 43 life events which predispose to stress- related illnesses, weighted ac­cording to their respective probability of doing so.

Reactions to stressful experiences

2017 ◽  
pp. 135-160
Author(s):  
Paul Harrison ◽  
Philip Cowen ◽  
Tom Burns ◽  
Mina Fazel
Keyword(s):  
Childhood Abuse ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Response To Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Stressful Experiences ◽  
Refugee Experience ◽  
Coping Patterns

‘Reactions to stressful experiences’ covers emotional and physiological elements of the response to stress and the way in which maladaptive coping patterns and inappropriate defence mechanisms can lead to clinical disorders. Stress reactions are often short-lived and respond to support from friends and family. However, particularly severe stresses can lead to the condition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an important source of morbidity and disability, whose clinical features, psychology, neurobiology, and treatment are described in detail. The chapter also covers adjustment to threatening and traumatic life events, such as childhood abuse, sexual assault in women, the refugee experience, serious physical illness, and bereavement. These events can produce various kinds of adverse psychological consequences over the lifespan, and the chapter shows how these psychiatric sequelae can be recognized, theoretically understood, and best managed according to current evidence-based practice.

scholarly journals Treatment of victims of trauma

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 358-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwen Adshead ◽  
Scott Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Acute Stress ◽  
Stress Disorders ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Acute And Chronic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Traumatic Symptoms

Not all traumatic events cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and people develop PTSD symptoms after events that do not seem to be overwhelmingly traumatic. In order to direct services appropriately, there is a need to distinguish time-limited post-traumatic symptoms and acute stress reactions (that may improve spontaneously without treatment or respond to discrete interventions) from PTSD, with its potentially more chronic pathway and possible long-term effects on the personality. In this article, we describe acute and chronic stress disorders and evidence about the most effective treatments.

scholarly journals Post-traumatic stress disorder in people with learning disability

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Personality Changes ◽  
Post Traumatic

It is well recognised that traumatic events can cause psychological disorders in those who experience them. The most common disorders suffered are depression and substance misuse; others include acute stress reactions, anxiety states and personality changes. One disorder following trauma that has received considerable attention over the past 20 years is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD occurs in 20–30% of people exposed to traumatic events and the prevalence in the general population is 1% (Helzer et al, 1987), with life-time prevalence of 9.2%.

Impact of child death on paediatric trainees

2017 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare E Hollingsworth ◽  
Carla Wesley ◽  
Jaymie Huckridge ◽  
Gabrielle M Finn ◽  
Michael J Griksaitis
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Child Death ◽  
P Value ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Death Of A Child ◽  
Post Traumatic

ObjectiveTo assess the prevalence of symptoms of acute stress reactions (ASR) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in paediatric trainees following their involvement in child death.DesignA survey designed to identify trainees’ previous experiences of child death combined with questions to identify features of PTSD. Quantitative interpretation was used alongside a χ2 test. A p value of <0.05 was considered significant.Setting604 surveys were distributed across 13 UK health education deaneries.Participants303/604 (50%) of trainees completed the surveys.Results251/280 (90%) of trainees had been involved with the death of a child, although 190/284 (67%) had no training in child death. 118/248 (48%) of trainees were given a formal debrief session following their most recent experience. 203/251 (81%) of trainees reported one or more symptoms or behaviours that could contribute to a diagnosis of ASR/PTSD. 23/251 (9%) of trainees met the complete criteria for ASR and 13/251 (5%) for PTSD. Attending a formal debrief and reporting feelings of guilt were associated with an increase in diagnostic criteria for ASR/PTSD (p=0.036 and p<0.001, respectively).ConclusionsPaediatric trainees are at risk of developing ASR and PTSD following the death of a child. The feeling of guilt should be identified and acknowledged to allow prompt signposting to further support, including psychological assessment or intervention if required. Clear recommendations need to be made about the safety of debriefing sessions as, in keeping with existing evidence, our data suggest that debrief after the death of a child may be associated with the development of symptoms suggestive of ASR/PTSD.

scholarly journals PTSD in paramedics: history, conceptual issues and psychometric measures

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 495-502
Author(s):  
Kamran Baqai
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Trauma ◽  
International Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Statistical Manual ◽  
Diagnostic And Statistical Manual ◽  
Psychometric Measures ◽  
Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Post Traumatic

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more common in paramedics than in the general population because of the stressful and distressing nature of their work. Forms of PTSD associated with chronic stress and repeated trauma are scarcely researched among paramedics. This is striking as this workforce is potentially more likely to be affected by these types of PTSD. Diagnostic processes are still largely based on acute rather than chronic psychological trauma. PTSD diagnosis has been influenced by sociological perceptions of mental illness and changes in diagnostic criteria. Criteria for the diagnosis of PTSD in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International Classification of Diseases have changed in the past decade, which may facilitate more appropriate diagnoses of PTSD in paramedics. Paramedics often have a complex aetiology of PTSD resulting from experiences of both chronic and acute events. Questionnaires that cover exposure to both individual and repeated stressful events are required to enable further research in the area of PTSD in paramedics.

scholarly journals Coronavirus syndrome: COVID-19 psychotrauma

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezhda V Soloveva ◽  
Ekaterina V Makarova ◽  
Irina V Kichuk
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Severe Form ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Financial Losses

The authors propose term “coronavirus syndrome” for the mental disorder that is a psychical response to the global problem of COVID-19 pandemic. This syndrome will affect up to 10% of the population and we could already observe acute stress reactions to the spread of the infection and changes in people’s ordinary lifestyle. However, the most severe response will be seen later, in this case the catastrophe is similar to the clinical picture of post-traumatic stress disorder. The problem is that coronavirus syndrome will affect the working capacity of population at the period, when economical recovery is essential. The risk groups are health caregivers who worked in COVID departments; patients recovered from a severe form of the disease; people who have lost their loved ones; and those who have suffered significant financial losses or lost their jobs. Adequate prophylaxis of coronavirus syndrome especially in high-risk groups are important for maintaining global mental health and economy.

Early Traumatic Stress Reactions among Swedish Survivors of the m/s Estonia Disaster

1996 ◽  
Vol 169 (6) ◽  
pp. 713-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils-Gustaf Eriksson ◽  
Tom Lundin
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Coherence ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Short Version ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Symptom Scale ◽  
Event Scale ◽  
Dissociative Symptoms ◽  
Post Traumatic

BackgroundThis study is a three-month follow-up study in order to assess the short-term impact of traumatic stress among 53 Swedish survivors of the Estonia disaster.MethodA questionnaire consisting of general questions about conditions during and after the disaster and self-assessment by Post Traumatic Symptom Scale (PTSS–10), Impact of Event Scale (IES), Sense of Coherence–short version (SoC–12), and the DSM–IV list of dissociative symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder formulated as questions regarding individual reactions was distributed.ResultsThe response rate was 79.2% (n=42). The participants scored an average of 3.9 on PTSS–10, 28.5 on IES (‘intrusion’ and ‘avoidance’ subscales) and 62.8 on SoC–12, which shows elevated levels of post-traumatic stress reactions but a normal level of sense of coherence. The reported occurrence of dissociative symptoms during the disaster was as follows: emotional numbing in 43% of the survivors, reduction of awareness in 55%, derealisation in 67%, depersonalisation in 33%, and dissociative amnesia in 29%. Survivors scoring low in SoC scored significantly higher in both PTSS–10 and IES than those with high scores in SoC. All dissociative symptoms were predictive of post-traumatic reactions.ConclusionsThis study substantiates the importance of assessing dissociative symptoms during a life-threatening event as a possible predictor for later post-traumatic reactions and possible PTSD. The Sense of Coherence Scale may be useful as an instrument to sort out survivors at risk.

scholarly journals Environmental enrichment prevents the late effect of acute stress-induced fear extinction deficit: the role of hippocampal AMPA-GluA1 phosphorylation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Santana Novaes ◽  
Letícia Morais Bueno-de-Camargo ◽  
Carolina Demarchi Munhoz
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Fear Memory ◽  
Fear Extinction ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Related Disorder ◽  
Memory Extinction ◽  
Post Traumatic

AbstractThe persistence of anxiety and the deficit of fear memory extinction are both phenomena related to the symptoms of a trauma-related disorder, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recently we have shown that single acute restraint stress (2 h) in rats induces a late anxiety-related behavior (observed ten days after stress), whereas, in the present work, we found that the same stress impaired fear extinction in animals conditioned ten days after stress. Fourteen days of environmental enrichment (EE) prevented the deleterious effect of stress on fear memory extinction. Additionally, we observed that EE prevented the stress-induced increase in AMPA receptor GluA1 subunit phosphorylation in the hippocampus, but not in the basolateral amygdala complex and the frontal cortex, indicating a potential mechanism by which it exerts its protective effect against the stress-induced behavioral outcome.

scholarly journals Experiences with traumatic events, consequences and care among people with visual impairment and post-traumatic stress disorder: a qualitative study from The Netherlands

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e041469
Author(s):  
Alida J van der Ham ◽  
Hilde P A van der Aa ◽  
Peter Verstraten ◽  
Ger H M B van Rens ◽  
Ruth M A van Nispen
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Visual Impairment ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Stress Reactions ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic

ObjectiveHaving a visual impairment is known to be associated with an increased vulnerability to (potentially) traumatic events. Little is known about how people with visual impairment experience and process such events. This qualitative study aimed to provide more insight into experiences with traumatic events, consequences of traumatic events and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related care among people with visual impairment and PTSD.MethodsEighteen persons with visual impairment and (a history of) PTSD were interviewed. Among them were 14 women and 4 men aged between 23 and 66 years. Recruitment of participants was done through health professionals from two low-vision service centres and a patient association for people with eye diseases and visual impairment in The Netherlands. Interviews focused on experiences with (1) traumatic events, (2) consequences of traumatic events and (3) PTSD-related care. Thematic content analysis of interview data was performed using ATLAS.ti. The COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research (COREQ) checklist was used to check for completeness and transparency of the study. Data were collected between 2018 and 2020.ResultsThe most commonly reported traumatic events were sexual and physical abuse. Many participants experienced that their impairment had negatively affected their acceptance by others, independence and self-esteem, increasing their vulnerability for traumatic events. Additionally, having a visual impairment negatively impacted participants’ ability to respond to situations and aggravated post-traumatic stress reactions. Existing treatments seem suitable for people with visual impairment when accommodated to the impairment.ConclusionsHaving a visual impairment may affect traumatic events and post-traumatic stress reactions, particularly by contributing to low self-esteem, problems in social interactions and a lack of visual information. Insights from this study provide starting points for adapting pretraumatic and post-traumatic care to the needs of people with visual impairment.

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