Adjustment disorder is a psychological response to stress that results in behavioral or emotional symptoms. Symptoms must begin within 3 months of the stressor and be more severe than expected. Symptoms lessen when the stressor ends or the person adapts. Unemployment and divorce are common stressors that can lead to adjustment disorder. Symptoms include difficulty functioning, feeling overwhelmed, lack of concentration, lack of appetite, and insomnia.

1. Adjustment
Disorder
FIONA HESLOP - 20141191

2. Adjustment Disorder

3. What Is Adjustment Disorder?
An adjustment disorder is a psychological response to a common stressor
(e.g., divorce, death of a loved one, loss of a job) that results in clinically
significant behavioral or emotional symptoms.
 For the diagnosis to be given, symptoms must begin within 3 months of the
onset of the stressor. In addition, the person must experience more distress
than would be expected given the circumstances or be unable to function as
usual.

4. Adjustment Disorder Con’t
In adjustment disorder, the person’s symptoms lessen or dis-appear when
the stressor ends or when the person learns to adapt to the stressor. In
cases where the symptoms continue beyond 6 months, the diagnosis is
usually changed to some other mental disorder.

5. Adjustment Disorder Caused by
Unemployment
Work related problems can produce great stress in employees but being unemployed can be
even more stressful.
 Unemployment is especially a severe problem for young minority males, many of
whom live in a permanent economic depression with few job prospects. According to
Pew Research Center, rates of unemployment for blacks are more than twice as high
as they are for whites.
 One of the most disturbing findings is that unemployment, especially if it is
prolonged, increases the risk of suicide. (Borges et al, 2010; Classen & Dunn, 2011).

6. Adjustment Disorder Caused by
Divorce or Separation
 Marital distress can also lead to the development of stress related
psychological disorders (Whisman, 2007).
 The deterioration or ending of an intimate relationship is a potent stressor
that is frequently cited as the reason why people seek psychological
treatment.
 People who are recently divorced or separated are markedly overrepresented
among people with psychological problems.

7. Symptoms of Adjustment Disorders
Adjustment disorders affect how you feel and think about yourself and the
world and may also affect your actions or behavior. Some examples
include:
 Difficulty functioning in daily activities
 Feeling overwhelmed
 Difficulty Concentrating
 Lack of Appetite
 Insomnia

8. Post
Traumatic
Stress
Disorder

9. What Is Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder?
According to the National Institute of Mental Health , PTSD Is defined as a
condition of persistent mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of
injury or severe psychological shock, typically involving disturbance of
sleep and constant vivid recall of the experience.

10. Acute Stress Disorder
Acute stress disorder is a diagnostic category that can be used when
symptoms develop shortly after experiencing a traumatic event and last for at
least 2 days. The existence of this diagnosis means that people with
symptoms do not have to wait a whole month to be diagnosed with PTSD.
Instead they can receive treatment as soon as they experience symptoms.

11. Clinical Description
In PTSD a traumatic event is thought to cause a pathological memory that is
at the center of the characteristic clinical symptoms associated with the
disorder (McNally, 2008). These memories are often brief fragments of the
experience and often concern events that happened just before the moment
with the largest emotional impact.
EXAMPLE

12. Prevalence of PTSD in
Jamaica

13. Causal Factors in Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop after a very stressful, frightening or
distressing event, or after a prolonged traumatic experience. Causual Factors Include:
 Serious accidents
 Natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and earthquakes
 Living in a war zone, as a victim of war or a soldier
 Sexual assault
 Serious physical assault
 Seeing people hurt or killed

14. Individual Risk Factors
Life-threatening incidents do not affect everyone in the same way: after an
incident, some people may develop PTSD, while others do not. Risk factors
suggesting that a particular person may suffer PTSD include:
 Previous trauma
 Limitations in personal social support
 A predisposing personality condition.

15. Sociocultural Factors
 Being a member of a minority group place people at higher risk for
developing PTSD.
 Being more educated and having a higher annual income were also
factors associated with lower rates of PTSD overall.
 Returning to a negative and unsupportive social environment can also
increase vulnerability to posttraumatic stress.

16. Long-Term Effects of Posttraumatic
Stress
Long-term problems that may develop, or get worse, due to untreated post-
traumatic stress disorder, include:
 Social isolation and withdrawal
 Substance abuse and addiction
 Suicidal thoughts and behaviors
 Depression
 Anxiety

17. Reference
Rutherford, D. P. (2010, November 7). Hurting Our Children. Retrieved from Jamaica Gleaner :
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20101107/news/news4.html
What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? (n.d.). Retrieved from National Institute of Mental Health:
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder- ptsd/index.shtml
Desilver, D. (2013, August 21). Black unemployment rate is consistently twice that of whites. Retrieved
from Pew Research Center: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2013/08/21/through-good-times-
and-bad-black-unemployment-is-consistently- double-that-of-whites/