Comment on Dutheil, Mondillon, and Navel (2020): the importance of adjustment disorders and resilience

Incidence, Risk Factors, and Consequences of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Survivors of COVID-19-Related ARDS

“…The psychological consequences of collective traumatic events such as hurricanes [ 32 ], earthquakes [ 33 ], or terrorist attacks [ 34 ] have been the subject of study for many years, but natural disaster or terrorist attack characteristics are extremely different from a pandemic outbreak, albeit unexpected and serious, and for this reason, COVID-19 infection mental health effects [ 7 , 14 , 35 , 36 ] must be considered a separate case. Indeed, medical conditions from natural causes such as life-threatening viral infection do not meet the current criteria for trauma required for a diagnosis of PTSD, but other psychopathologies, such as depressive, anxiety, or adjustment disorders, may ensure [ 21 , 37 ].…”

“…Secondly, our study could be a further example of the serious methodological issues related to research on PTSD in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic [ 70 ]. It is uncertain if DSM-V’s inclusion criteria for PTSD are compatible with the situations that often occur during the COVID-19 pandemic, as not every disease is a life-threatening event, at least for every patient affected [ 21 , 37 ]. If, as some authors stated [ 22 ], adjustment disorder is a more suitable diagnosis because it does not require a stressor that is life-threatening or traumatic [ 71 ], it is not surprising that COVID-19 survivors show different risk or protective factors compared to natural-disaster- or trauma-exposed adults.…”

COVID-19-Related Stressors and Clinical Mental Health Symptoms in a Northeast US Sample

“…However, the IES-R is not intended to be a diagnostic tool, and experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic does not necessarily constitute a Criterion A event (i.e., entailing threat of death or serious injury or assault), as required for diagnosis of PTSD. As discussed in recent publications [56][57][58][59], any survey-based approach that lacks assessment of a Criterion A event is likely to yield elevated rates of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Other potential downsides of a focus on post-traumatic stress symptoms are overlooking adjustment disorder as an alternative diagnosis and failing to account for human resilience to potentially traumatic situations.…”

Love and Infidelity: Causes and Consequences

“…Some clinicians argue that framing the experience of infidelity as a form of trauma may facilitate greater emotional recovery for its victims, thus, demonstrating the benefits of validating such an emotionally distressing event [56,57]. Therefore, conceptualizing infidelity as its own unique traumatic experience within the lens of AD may help to accurately capture the impact of these situations while shedding light on the potential overdiagnosis and reliance of the PTSD label [49,58,59].…”