Natural Disasters, Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Individual, Psychological and Social Impacts
Natural disasters, Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic stress disorder:
Individual, Psychological and Social Impacts
Natural disasters, Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic stress disorder:
Individual, Psychological and Social Impacts
Introduction
Disasters characteristically occur quickly leaving behind comprehensive physiological and psychological impairment (Fullerton, Robert, & Wang, 2004). Natural disasters specifically are defined by the world health organization (1980) as an ecological phenomenon that occurs suddenly and is of sufficient magnitude to require external assistance, additionally the DSM-IV defines a traumatic event as an event experienced, witnessed or confronted by a person that involves actual or threatened death, serious injury or an threat to the physical integrity of self or others (Sriram, Rodriguez-Fernandez, & Doyle, 2012). Natural disaster tends to occur in rural areas in Australia and affects a diverse range of social structures and cultures. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that occurs among persons exposed to a traumatic event involving life threat and injury of themselves or those around them (Sriram, Rodriguez-Fernandez, & Doyle, 2012). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), states the core symptoms are impaired concentration, emotional numbing, recurrent flashes of traumatic memories, social withdrawal, and hyper arousal. PTSD is often observed as a comorbidity of other psychiatric disorders, most commonly depressive or anxiety disorders (Sriram, Rodriguez-Fernandez, & Doyle, 2012).
Acute stress disorder displays similar symptomology to PTSD however differs by being a trauma related diagnosis that is made within the first 30 days after the trauma incident (Bryant, 2006). The DSM-IV requires that at least three of the following five dissociative symptoms were experienced during or after the traumatic event: numbing, detachment, or absence of emotional responsiveness; a
Individual, Psychological and Social Impacts
Natural disasters, Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic stress disorder:
Individual, Psychological and Social Impacts
Introduction
Disasters characteristically occur quickly leaving behind comprehensive physiological and psychological impairment (Fullerton, Robert, & Wang, 2004). Natural disasters specifically are defined by the world health organization (1980) as an ecological phenomenon that occurs suddenly and is of sufficient magnitude to require external assistance, additionally the DSM-IV defines a traumatic event as an event experienced, witnessed or confronted by a person that involves actual or threatened death, serious injury or an threat to the physical integrity of self or others (Sriram, Rodriguez-Fernandez, & Doyle, 2012). Natural disaster tends to occur in rural areas in Australia and affects a diverse range of social structures and cultures. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that occurs among persons exposed to a traumatic event involving life threat and injury of themselves or those around them (Sriram, Rodriguez-Fernandez, & Doyle, 2012). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), states the core symptoms are impaired concentration, emotional numbing, recurrent flashes of traumatic memories, social withdrawal, and hyper arousal. PTSD is often observed as a comorbidity of other psychiatric disorders, most commonly depressive or anxiety disorders (Sriram, Rodriguez-Fernandez, & Doyle, 2012).
Acute stress disorder displays similar symptomology to PTSD however differs by being a trauma related diagnosis that is made within the first 30 days after the trauma incident (Bryant, 2006). The DSM-IV requires that at least three of the following five dissociative symptoms were experienced during or after the traumatic event: numbing, detachment, or absence of emotional responsiveness; a
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