Diagnostic Criteria of PTSD
Please read all of this information and see how your trauma fits within these guidelines!
The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following were present:
the person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others
the person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.
The traumatic event is persistently re experienced in one (or more) of the following ways:
recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or
perceptions.
recurrent distressing dreams of the event.
acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (includes a sense of reliving the
experience, illusions, hallucinations, and associative flashback episodes, including those that
occur on awakening or when intoxicated).
intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or
resemble an aspect of the traumatic event
hysiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an
aspect of the traumatic event
Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma), as indicated by three (or more) of the following:
efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma
efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the trauma
inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma
markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities
feeling of detachment or estrangement from others
restricted range of affect (e.g., unable to have loving feelings)
sense of a foreshortened future (e.g., does not expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a
normal life span)
Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (not present before the trauma), as indicated by two (or more) of the following:
difficulty falling or staying asleep
irritability or outbursts of anger
difficulty concentrating
hypervigilance
exaggerated startle response
Duration of the disturbance (symptoms in Criteria B, C, and D) is more than 1 month.
The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
Specify if:
Acute: if duration of symptoms is less than 3 months
Chronic: if duration of symptoms is 3 months or more
Specify if:
With Delayed Onset: if onset of symptoms is at least 6 months after the Stressor
