Behavioral health conditions

Stress disordersSubstance use disorders

Stress disorders result as an exposure to a traumatic or stressful event. A traumatic event can cause significant physical, emotional, or psychological harm. Two such disorders are acute stress disorder (ASD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Both share many of the same symptoms and can include depression, irritability, intrusive thoughts, aggression, severe anxiety and dissociation. 

ASD typically occurs right after the traumatic event and lasts three days to one month. PTSD is a chronic condition which may appear sometime after the traumatic event and the duration is over a month.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, approximately 50% of individuals who develop PTSD initially presented with ASD. Common treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT); mindfulness training, medication and/or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing treatment (EMDR).

For those who are addicted to drugs, alcohol or tobacco, it’s nearly impossible to recover without outside assistance. Substance use can significantly impact successful outcomes as you treat medical disorders as well.

If you believe your patient has a problem with substance use, we strongly urge you to coordinate medical care with behavioral health treatment. The tools below can help.

PCPs may use the five-item Primary Care PTSD Screen (PCPS) or the 20-item self-report questionnaire, PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).
  • Intrusion symptoms associated with traumatic event(s)
  • Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the traumatic event(s)
  • Marked alterations in arousal and reactivity associated with the traumatic event(s)
  • Negative alterations in cognitions and mood associated with the traumatic event(s)
  • Dissociative symptoms including persistent or recurrent symptoms of depersonalization or de-realization