How is Adjustment Disorder diagnosed?
Diagnosis of adjustment disorders is based on the identification of major life stressors, your symptoms, and how they impact your ability to function. Doctor commonly refer to the criteria listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association. These criteria are:
- Having emotional or behavioral symptoms within three months of a specific stressor occurring in your life.
- Experiencing more stress than would normally be expected in response to a stressful life event and/or having stress that causes significant problems in your relationships, at work or at school.
- Symptoms are not the result of another mental health disorder or part of the normal grieving process.
6 Types of Adjustment Disorder
The DSM-5 lists six different types of adjustment disorders. Although they're all related, each type has unique signs and symptoms. The six types include:
- With depressed mood. Symptoms mainly include feeling sad, tearful and hopeless and experiencing a lack of pleasure in the things you used to enjoy.
- With anxiety. Symptoms mainly include nervousness, worry, difficulty concentrating or remembering things and feeling overwhelmed. Children who have an adjustment disorder with anxiety may strongly fear being separated from their parents and loved ones.
- With mixed anxiety and depressed mood. Symptoms include a combination of depression and anxiety.
- With disturbance of conduct. Symptoms mainly involve behavioral problems, such as fighting or reckless driving. Youths may skip school or vandalize property.
- With mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct. Symptoms include a mix of depression and anxiety as well as behavioral problems.
- Unspecified. Symptoms don't fit the other types of adjustment disorders, but often include physical problems, problems with family or friends, or work or school problems.
Adjustment disorders can be:
- Acute. Signs and symptoms last six months or less. They should ease once the stressor is removed.
- Persistent (chronic). Signs and symptoms last more than six months. They continue to bother the person and interfere with his life.
Treatment:
Many people with adjustment disorders only need brief treatment. Others, including those with persistent adjustment disorders or ongoing stressors, may benefit from longer treatment. Psychotherapy (talk therapy), is the main treatment for adjustment disorders.
Therapy is useful in the following ways:
- Providing emotional support
- Helping a person to resume his usual routine
- Enabling an individual to understand why the stressful event affected him so much
- Helping the person to acquire a wider repertoire of stress-management and coping skills to deal with stressful life events
