Content

• Steps

Acute stress disorder (ASD) is a marked mental breakdown that occurs within a month of a traumatic event. If left untreated, ASD can develop into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a more persistent mental health problem. Fortunately, acute stress disorder is a treatable disease. This disease requires a lot of work and intervention from a mental health professional, but with the right treatment, you can continue living a normal life like everyone else.

Steps

Part 1 of 4: Recognizing then acute stress disorder

1. 

   Think about whether you or someone you know has experienced a major traumatic event in the past month. A defining condition of ASD is that the patient has to experience intense emotional stress for less than a month before symptoms appear. Trauma events can include death, fear of death or physical and emotional harm. Once you know what kind of trauma you or someone you know has experienced, it will be easier to assess if ASD is the cause of the symptoms. The most common causes of this type of trauma include:
   • Traumatic events such as being attacked, raped, and witnessing a shooting
   • Be the victim of crime, such as robbery
   • Accident
   • Mild brain injury
   • Occupational accident
   • Natural disaster

2. 

   
   
   Learn about the symptoms of ASD. Acute stress disorder is manifested by a number of symptoms. According to the 5th edition of handbook on diagnosis and statistics of mental disorders (DSM-5) - a guide to mental illnesses - a person is likely to develop ASD if the following symptoms are present a strong trauma. To be considered ASD, symptoms must last more than 2 days and less than 4 weeks.

3. 

   
   
   Look for the symptoms of dissociation. Dissociation occurs when a person seems to be retreating from the real world. It is a common coping mechanism for people who have just experienced strong trauma. The patient can dissociate in several ways. A person can have ASD if there are three or more of the following symptoms:
   • Feeling of numbness, separation, or lack of emotional response
   • Decreased awareness of your surroundings
   • Perception is false (derealization), or a sense of the outside world is not real
   • Depersonalization. This happens when a person feels like their feelings and experiences are not their own. Trauma victims can convince themselves that the event is another person's experience and not theirs.
   • Dissociative amnesia (dissociative amnesia). The patient can suppress memory or forget whole traumatic events or aspects of the event.

4. 

   
   
   Determine if the person has re-experienced the traumatic event. Some people with ASD will experience the traumatic event again in many ways.If you or someone you know is reliving the traumatic event with one or more of the following symptoms, it is a sign of ASD:
   • Pictures or thoughts of the traumatic event often recur
   • Dreams, nightmares or night panic attacks about traumatic events.
   • Detailed flashbacks about the traumatic event. It could be fleeting images or highly detailed events, when the patient feels he is actually experiencing the event again.

5. 

   Observe avoidance. Patients feel distressed when exposed to factors that are reminiscent of the traumatic event. They often avoid situations or locations that make them recall the event. If you notice the person deliberately avoiding certain situations or locations associated with the traumatic event, that's another sign of ASD.
   • Victims often have symptoms of anxiety, tension, agitation, or increased alertness when approached.

6. 

   Determine if previous symptoms are causing serious problems in everyday life. Another criterion for diagnosing ASD is the occurrence of symptoms that significantly interfere with the patient's life. Examine the daily life of you or an acquaintance to see if the symptoms are causing major problems.
   • Consider the impact on the job. Are you able to focus and complete your tasks, or is concentration impossible for you? Are you often associated with traumatic events and being unable to continue working?
   • Think about your social life. Did the thought of going out worry you? Have you completely stopped communicating? Do you try to avoid elements that are reminiscent of a traumatic event, and therefore avoid certain social situations?

7. 

   Seek professional help. You or someone you know will need specialist help if your symptoms match the criteria for ASD above. Fortunately, ASD can be cured, but you must act as quickly as possible. A medical professional will evaluate the condition and recommend appropriate treatment.
   • Depending on the situation you need to start from. If you or a loved one has a severe crisis, has thoughts of suicide or murder, or becomes violent, call 113 (the rapid response police force) or the hotline 1800 1567 (translation Child support and counseling services provided by the Department of Child Protection and Care - Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs with support from Plan in Vietnam) to get help. Once the crisis is over, you can seek psychological follow-up support.
   • If you have suicidal thoughts, call the hotline 1800 1567.
   • If you or someone you care about is not currently experiencing a crisis, you can make an appointment to see a therapist or mental health professional.
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Part 2 of 4: Treating acute stress disorder with therapy

1. 

   Try cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Currently, CBT is considered the most effective method of treating ASD. It has also been found that early treatment with CBT also helps prevent ASD from developing into PTSD, a similar but more long-lasting illness.
   • CBT therapy for ASD focuses on changing the way you feel about the risk associated with the traumatic event you have experienced, and the focus on trauma management to help you desensitize the stimulus surrounding the traumatic event.
   • A therapist will explain the physical, emotional and psychological responses to the traumatic event to help you improve your awareness of triggers and responses. The therapist will also explain how and why this process is important for your desensitization to the experience.
   • You will also receive relaxation exercises to use in anxiety situations outside the clinic as well as during verbal trauma therapy or visualization of the traumatic event and describe as word.
   • The therapist will also use CBT to help you reframe your experience and overcome the survivor's guilt if necessary. In the case of ASD, for example, if the patient had had a fatal car accident, perhaps he was now afraid to get in the car because it felt like he was going to die. The therapist will try to find a way to help the patient think differently. If the patient is 25 years old, the therapist can say he has been in a car for 25 years and has not died, then the statistics are in his favor.

2. 

   Get psychological counseling immediately after a trauma occurs. Psychological counseling includes urgent mental health interventions immediately after trauma, ideally before symptoms develop into ASD. The patient will receive an intensive session to tell a specialist about the entire trauma event. The downside to this approach is that it must be done immediately after the traumatic event to be effective.
   • The effectiveness of psychotherapy is controversial. Some studies show that psychological counseling does not provide long-term benefits for trauma victims. However, you should not give up on your intention to seek the help of a psychologist, this just means that the counselor may use other treatments if the counseling does not work.

3. 

   Join an anxiety control group. In addition to one-on-one therapy sessions, group therapy can also help patients with ASD. Group therapy sessions are usually supervised by a mental health professional. The expert will guide the chats and ensure every team member has a positive experience. Support groups can help prevent feelings of loneliness and isolation as you are surrounded by people who share your experiences.
   • Like the psychological counseling approach, group therapy's effectiveness in treating ASD is also skeptical, although participants may enjoy the close friendship that develops during group therapy sessions.

4. 

   Try exposure therapy. Often ASD makes people afraid of specific places or situations that are reminiscent of a traumatic event. This can be a daunting challenge in their lives, because they may have to stop communicating or stop working out to avoid factors that trigger traumatic events. If left untreated, these fears can progress to PTSD.
   • With exposure therapy, the patient is gradually exposed to anxiety stimulants. The hope here is that the exposure will gradually desensitize the patient to the stimuli, and that they can cope with them every day without fear.
   • This treatment usually begins with an imaginary exercise with the stress agent in as much detail as possible. Therapy sessions will gradually increase in intensity until the therapist and patient are confronted with the stimulus in real life.
   • For example, a patient who witnessed a shooting in a library would be afraid to enter a library. The therapist can start by having the patient imagine they are in the library and describe how they are feeling. The therapist can then decorate the clinic as a library so that the patient feels like they are in the library, yet they are still in a controlled environment. Eventually the two of you will go to the real library together.
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Part 3 of 4: Treatment of acute stress disorder with medication

1. 

   Talk to your doctor before taking any medications. Like all prescription drugs, ASD medications pose a risk of dependence. Hence these drugs are often sold illegally on the street. You should never take medications that are not prescribed by your doctor. If used incorrectly, ASD medication can worsen symptoms, and even death.

2. 

   Take a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). SSRIs are considered the leading drug in the treatment of ASD. This drug works to change serotonin levels in the brain, improving mood and reducing feelings of anxiety.It is still the most commonly used drug for treating a number of mental health disorders.
   • Common SSRIs include sertraline (Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa), and escitalopram (Lexapro).

3. 

   Take a tricyclic antidepressant. Amitriptyline and imipramine have been shown to be effective in treating ASD. Tricyclic antidepressants work to increase the amount of norepinephrine and serotonin available in the brain ..

4. 

   Try benzodiazepine. Benzodiazepine is often prescribed by doctors to relieve anxiety, so it may help patients with ASD. This drug also works to aid in sleep, helping to improve the insomnia often associated with ASD.
   • The benzodiazepine group of drugs includes clonazepam (Klonopin), diazepam (Valium), and lorazepam (Ativan).
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Part 4 of 4: Encourage relaxation and positive thinking

1. 

   Reduce stress with relaxation exercises. Relaxation exercises have been shown to be very effective in improving overall mental health. They help relieve stress symptoms and prevent ASD recurrence. The practice of relaxation also helps to treat the secondary effects of mental illness such as insomnia, fatigue, and high blood pressure.
   • When you go to a psychiatrist for ASD treatment, a therapist can recommend some relaxation exercises. This is often part of cognitive-behavioral therapy.

2. 

   Practice deep breathing exercises. A popular and effective tool for stress relief is deep breathing. With the right technique, you can effectively reduce stress and avoid problems in the future.
   • Breathe from the abdomen instead of the chest. This will help you get more oxygen into your body and relax you. Place your hands on your stomach to make sure your abdomen rises and falls as you breathe. If not, then you are not breathing deeply enough.
   • Sit up straight or lie on the floor.
   • Inhale through your nose and out through your mouth. Breathe in as much air as you can, then exhale all the way until your lungs are completely empty.

3. 

   Practice meditation. Like deep breathing, meditation relieves stress and allows you to reach a state of relaxation. Regular meditation practice can help improve mental and physical health by reducing stress and anxiety levels.
   • During the practice of meditation, one moves to a calm state, concentrating on a single sound, allowing the mind to be free from all worries and thoughts in everyday life.
   • Choose a quiet place, sit comfortably, put all thoughts out of your mind and focus your imagination on a candle, or a word like "relax". Practice for 15-30 minutes per day.

4. 

   Create a support network. People with good support networks are less likely to experience episodes or recurrence of mental illness. In addition to family and friends, you can turn to support groups for help and bonding.
   • Share your problems with loved ones. Do not hold emotions in your heart. Talking to family and friends is a very important factor in building a support system. They can't help you without knowing what's going on.
   • You can find a support group in your area that specializes in your particular condition. Surfing the internet quickly can help you find a group close to where you live.

5. 

   Logging. Journaling has been shown to help reduce stress and anxiety. It's a place to release all of your emotions, and most mental health programs include journaling. Determining to take a few minutes a day to journal will benefit your mental health.
   • As you write in your journal, try to meditate on what is causing you trouble. Write down your stressors first, then record your response. How do you feel and think when you start feeling stressed?
   • Analyze your interpretations of the traumatic event. Determine if you are falling into negative thinking. Then try to rebalance your interpretation in a more positive way and avoid thinking that aggravates the problem.
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