Acute Stress Disorder Symptoms

Acute Stress Disorder is characterized by the development of Understand Complex Trauma acute stress, dissociative, and other symptoms that happens within one month after exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor (e.g., seeing a death or serious injury). As a response to the traumatic event, dissociative symptoms are developed by the person. Individuals with Acute Stress Disorder possess a decrease in mental responsiveness, often finding it impossible or hard to experience pleasure in previously enjoyable activities, and frequently feel guilty about pursuing regular life tasks.

http://journeyofhearts.org/grief/stress.html

An individual who has Acute Stress Disorder may experience difficulty concentrating, feel detached from their bodies, encounter the world as unreal or dreamlike, or have increasing difficulty recalling specific details of the traumatic event (dissociative amnesia).

Additionally, at least one symptom from each one of the symptom clusters required for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is present. First, the traumatic event is persistently reexperienced (e.g., recurrent memories, pictures, ideas, dreams, illusions, flashback episodes, a sense of reliving the event, or distress on exposure to reminders of the occasion). Second, reminders of the PTSD trauma (e.g., locations, people, actions) are prevented. Eventually, hyperarousal in response to stimuli reminiscent of the trauma is present (e.g., difficulty sleeping, irritability, poor concentration, hypervigilance, an exaggerated startle response, and motor restlessness).