Acute Stress Disorder occurs in the first month following a traumatic event, with symptoms lasting between 3 days and a month.
A person struggling with acute stress may experience flashbacks or nightmares, avoid reminders of the event, feel numb or detached from their body, and feel intense fear or helplessness. These symptoms can impact the person’s ability to interact with others, engagement in different activities, or going to certain places.
Let’s think of Samantha who was recently in an intense car accident, leaving her car totaled. Multiple time a week, Samantha has nightmares about the accident and she wakes up in a panic. She avoids driving herself to work, and has started taking the train even thought this takes twice as long to avoid being reminded of her accident. When her friends want to meet up, Samantha makes sure to choose a place she can walk to so that she does not have to get into a car. When thinking about or being in a car, Samantha feels like the accident is happening again, her heart races and she braces her body for impact.
