5.1: Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders - Stressors

Learning Objectives

• Define stressor.
• Identify and describe common stressors.

Before we dive into clinical presentations of four of the trauma and stress-related disorders, let’s discuss common events that precipitate a stress-related diagnosis. A stress disorder occurs when an individual has difficulty coping with or adjusting to a recent stressor. Stressors can be any event—either witnessed firsthand, experienced personally, or experienced by a close family member—that increases physical or psychological demands on an individual. These events are significant enough that they pose a threat, whether real or imagined, to the individual. While many people experience similar stressors throughout their lives, only a small percentage of individuals experience significant maladjustment to the event that psychological intervention is warranted.

Among the most studied triggers for trauma-related disorders are combat and physical/sexual assault. Symptoms of combat-related trauma date back to World War I when soldiers would return home with “shell shock” (Figley, 1978). Unfortunately, it was not until after the Vietnam War that significant progress was made in both identifying and treating war-related psychological difficulties (Roy-Byrne et al., 2004). With the more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, attention was again focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms due to the large number of service members returning from deployments and reporting significant trauma symptoms.

Physical assault, and more specifically sexual assault, is another commonly studied traumatic event. Rape, or forced sexual intercourse or other sexual act committed without an individual’s consent, occurs in one out of every five women and one in every 71 men (Black et al., 2011). Unfortunately, this statistic likely underestimates the actual number of cases that occur due to the reluctance of many individuals to report their sexual assault. Of the reported cases, it is estimated that nearly 81% of female and 35% of male rape victims report both acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (Black et al., 2011).

Now that we have discussed a little about some of the most commonly studied traumatic events, we will now examine the clinical presentation of posttraumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder, and prolonged grief disorder.

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