Stress Disorders

Abstract

Reviewed in this chapter are the concepts of stress and trauma. Included within the chapter are such mental disorders as post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex PTSD, acute stress disorder, dissociative disorders (dissociative identity, amnesia, fugue, and depersonalization), and conversion disorder. These disorders are classified within three different sections of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , but they are conceptualized within this chapter as sharing a common etiology and pathology (and ultimately treatment implications). Extreme stress or trauma can have only a transient effect and it may even have for some a life‐transforming positive effect (e.g., greater investment in and appreciation of life). However, for many persons it can shatter their sense of security, attachment, and safety, contributing to the development of clinically significant anxiety, dissociative, and somatoform psychopathology. The dissociative disorders have been particularly controversial but compelling systematic research has documented well their validity and clinical importance.