My Adjustment Disorder Now Live

[StarChild]

It is so true how someone needs to wear the black hat, another the white. I love your gray hat.

Me too... It makes your facial expression very impressive.

but that is the task at hand and I can differentiate myself between it and being a member.

Thank you Anthony for all you're doing to keep this awesome forums on such a high level!! And that you're not losing yourself by doing so.

 

[Abstract]

I have seen a few people have this diagnoses alongside PTSD. Is Adjustment Disorder nul and void when a diagnoses of PTSD is present or is it valid?

 

[anthony]

You shouldn't have an adjustment disorder if you have PTSD, because you wouldn't be able to tell whether the anxiety, depression and mood was due to the new issue, regardless how minor or major, versus PTSD itself being the cause of the symptoms due to a new stressor presenting.

This is where the differential diagnosis comes into play that is from the DSM V [DLMURL="https://www.myptsd.com/c/articles/adjustment-disorders.4/"]Adjustment Disorder diagnosis[/DLMURL]:

With regard to symptom profiles, an adjustment disorder may be diagnosed following a traumatic event when an individual exhibits symptoms of either ASD or PTSD that do not meet or exceed the diagnostic threshold for either disorder. An adjustment disorder should also be diagnosed for individuals who have not been exposed to a traumatic event but who otherwise exhibit the full symptom profile of either ASD or PTSD.

See the part about meeting or exceeding the diagnostic threshold for either ASD or PTSD.

Based on your question there is one instance only where this would exist, however; it wouldn't exist as you have stated, being both together.

You can be diagnosed with PTSD, recover, and no longer meet the diagnostic criterion. Once you no longer meet the diagnostic criterion from recovery, you no longer have PTSD. Its like a broken bone... you broke it, it healed, you don't still have a broken bone, you have a history where you broke your bone. It is the same with mental health... in that once you no longer meet the criteria, you no longer have the disorder.

So you could have been diagnosed with PTSD, fully recovered with no ongoing issues... then later in life you have an event where the symptom profile meet adjustment disorder but not ASD or PTSD... thus you don't have both, you just have adjustment disorder at that time in your life. Again, once it has gone... no further diagnosis exists.

Outside of this you couldn't be diagnosed with both, because diagnostic medicine states that you choose the most severe within the spectrum presented. Both PTSD and adjustment disorder are trauma and stressor disorders, thus you can only be diagnosed with one or the other, but not both at the same time due to diagnostic application. If you started with adjustment disorder and it developed worse, then that is dropped and replace with PTSD, but not both simultaneously.

Because PTSD was an anxiety disorder, that precluded other anxiety disorders being diagnosed, such as social anxiety if symptoms increase in social situation, so forth... where now, technically, you could be diagnosed with PTSD + other anxiety disorders, because they no longer sit within the same heirachy and are considered different via categorisation.

 

[Abstract]

Thanks Anthony.

To be clear it wasn't for me personally but rather me wanting to know facts. My brain works like that. I always like to know detail and specifics.

I had seen some members say that their therapists had diagnosed an adjustment disorder for some experiences they had had whilst they also had a diagnoses for PTSD for others. I suspected it would be null and void. You bring up some interesting points in terms of present legitimate co existing diagnoses now that PTSD and adjustment disorders fall under trauma instead of anxiety. I had not thought how it would impact those.

I don't know what adjustment disorders fell under before.

I actually joined the other forum just to have a look around but then stopped myself as I think it might be another inventive way of me running away from the PTSD. I constantly battle with that.

 

[dnp]

Anthony,

Thanks for making all these forums. I honestly don't know how I would have survived the past year without this one. That I'm functioning at all I have you in large part to thank, as well as the community here.

I would like to participate on the trauma based forum. I think it's a great idea. I still do have a terrible time talking about my traumas (especially giving details). I'm thinking of picking something small and starting out with that on the other forum, but I'll have to think about what to write about.

 

[anthony]

I'm going to likely rename the other one to mytraumaticstress.com, as adjustment disorder just isn't widely used in terminology.

 

[Abstract]

That is a good idea. Adjustment disorder means close to nothing to most people.

It also seems a shame to me that there isn't better channelling of those that come on here to the site when they belong there. Not sure what that would look like though.

 

[Abstract]

With adjustment disorders now falling under trauma, has that had any effect on the official definition of trauma? It confuses me how adjustment disorders can fall under trauma when they include things like relationship breakups etc.

 

[anthony]

Please be aware I have now rebranded this accordingly to, My Traumatic Stress, as a more viable name for the sites purpose, being all trauma with or without diagnosis.