Types of Trauma Disorders

‘Trauma’ is usually regarded by psychologists as ‘exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violation’. This exposure includes the direct experience of traumatic events, witnessing or learning of such events. In children, trauma can also include serious social neglect, whereby a child was not provided with adequate caregiving during their early years.

The latest version of the psychologist’s diagnostic manual (DSM-5) included a separate category for Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders on it’s release in 2013, to acknowledge the direct link between traumatic events and the later emergence of psychological difficulties for some people.

As mentioned in a previous video by my colleague Rachel, there are different ways in which traumatic events can impact individuals. These differences are seen in a range of areas including:

the age in which a person shows signs of being affected by trauma.

the type of symptoms/signs a person experiences/displays in response to trauma.

how long the symptoms last

the length of time between the experience of trauma and the onset of symptoms.

A brief description of some trauma-related disorders follows:

Acute Stress Disorder

Captures psychological disturbance which lasts at least a few days and up to a month during the period immediately after exposure to trauma. Symptoms can include:

intrusive memories of the trauma, including dreams or flashbacks
negative changes in mood
efforts to avoid any reminders of the trauma
problems with physiological arousal (including sleep, irritability, concentration, being easily startled)
and feeling disconnected from one’s surrounding or own body.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD is similar in many ways with a main distinguishing factor being that the psychological disturbance lasts for at least one month. In addition to symptoms above, PTSD may also involve negative changes to one’s thoughts, including negative beliefs about oneself or the world, distorted cognitions that lead someone to blame themselves, and difficulties remembering parts of the trauma.

PTSD usually develops within three months of the trauma but can sometimes be delayed by months or even years. Not everyone who has developed acute stress disorder goes on to develop PTSD. But approximately half of those with PTSD did initially present with acute stress disorder.
Approximately one half of adults with PTSD completely recover within three months.

Adjustment Disorder

Captures the experience of significant emotional or behavioural symptoms occurring in response to specific stressor(s) of any level of severity. This can include experiences such

as losing a job, ending an important relationship, changing schools, chronic health issues etc, as well as traumatic events. An individual with adjustment disorder finds their functioning in daily life to be significantly impaired, but symptoms might be milder than PTSD, depression or an anxiety disorder.

Reactive Attachment Disorder

Refers to children who have experienced extreme problems with their caregiving, including insufficient care by their caregiving adults, frequent changes in caregivers or unusual caregiving arrangements. The condition can be present when a child starts to show patterns of emotionally withdrawn behaviour towards adult caregivers, before the age of five. Such children might rarely seek comfort from others or rarely respond to others and generally show signs of sadness, fear and lack of positive affect, even when in non-threatening situations. Reactive attachment disorder cannot be diagnosed in Autistic children.

Given the prevalence of traumatic and stressful life events it is important to be mindful of the ways many individuals can be affected. Fortunately there are a range of evidence-based treatments available for the treatment of these conditions to support people in managing and recovering from their difficult experiences.

At Prosper Health Collective we have a range of therapists who have expertise in working with these conditions in people across the lifespan.