Acute Stress Disorder

Acute stress disorder (ASD) is a severe anxiety response to a life-threatening event that is characterized by reexperiencing trauma, dissociation, negative mood, avoidance, and hyperarousal.  ASD symptoms typically start immediately after a traumatic event; they must last at least 3 days and up to 1 month for diagnosis.  Treatment of ASD may decrease the likelihood of progression to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can occur if symptoms persist for more than 1 month after a trauma event.

The prevalence of ASD within 1 month of trauma exposure varies depending on the nature of the event.  About 10%-20% of individuals develop ASD in response to an event that does not involve interpersonal assault (eg, motor vehicle collision, severe burn injury), and about 20%-50% of individuals develop ASD after being exposed to an interpersonal trauma (eg, mass shooting, rape).  ASD is more common in female patients, which may be partly related to a higher likelihood of exposure to interpersonal trauma.