Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders and Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative disorders involve disruptions or discontinuities in the operation and integration of many areas of psychological functioning. Which of the following is not a functional area affected in dissociative disorders?

How does DSM-5 differ from DSM-IV in its classification of dissociative fugue?

Criterion A4 of posttraumatic stress disorder requires “Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic event.” Which of the following would not qualify as an experiencing trauma under this criterion?

Which of the following reactions to a traumatic event was required for the DSM-IV diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but is not required for the DSM-5 diagnosis?

Which of the following stressful situations would meet Criterion A for the diagnosis of acute stress disorder (ASD)?

How does the 12-month prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the United States compare with that in European and Latin American countries?

A 5-year-old child was present when her babysitter was sexually assaulted.
Which of the following symptoms would be most suggestive of posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) in this child?

Which of the following statements about depersonalization/derealization disorder is true?

Eighteen months following the death of her son, a 49-year-old woman consults you for psychotherapy. She reports that her son died following a skiing accident on a trip that she gave him as a gift for his 17th birthday. She is preoccupied with the death and blames herself for providing the gift of the trip. Although she denies any overt suicidal plans, she describes longing for her son and an intense wish to be with him. She has not entered her son’s room since his death, has difficulty relating to her husband and feels anger toward him for agreeing to allow their son to go on the ski trip, and reports arguments between them regarding her social isolation and her lack of interest in maintaining their home and preparing meals for their other children. She was treated with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor at full dose for 6 months after her son’s death but reports that the medication had no impact on her symptoms. What is the most appropriate diagnosis?

After a routine chest X ray, a 53-year-old man with a history of heavy cigarette use is told that he has a suspicious lesion in his lung. A bronchoscopy confirms the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma. The man delays scheduling a follow-up appointment with the oncologist for more than 2 weeks, describes feeling as if “all of this is not real,” is having nightly dreams of seeing his own tombstone, and is experiencing intrusive flashbacks to the moment when he heard the physician saying, “The tests strongly suggest that you have cancer of the lung.” He is tearful and is convinced he will die. He also feels intense guilt that his smoking caused the cancer and expresses the thought that he “deserves” to have cancer. What diagnosis best fits this clinical picture?

A 6-year-old girl has repeatedly approached strangers while in the park with her class. The teacher requests an evaluation of the behavior. The girl has a history of being placed in several different foster homes over the past 3 years. Which diagnosis is suggested from this history?

Six months after the death of her husband, a 70-year-old woman is seen for symptoms of overwhelming sadness, anger regarding her husband’s unexpected death from a heart attack, intense yearning for him to come back, and repeated unsuccessful attempts to begin moving out of her large home (which she can no longer afford) due to inability to sort through and dispose of her husband’s belongings. What is the most appropriate diagnosis?

A 4-year-old boy in day care often displays fear that does not seem to be related to any of his activities. Although frequently distressed, he does not seek contact with any of the staff and does not respond when a staff member tries to comfort him. What additional caregiver-obtained information about this child would be important in deciding whether his symptoms represent reactive attachment disorder (RAD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD)?

Which of the following experiences would not qualify as exposure to a traumatic event (Criterion A) in the diagnosis of acute stress disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder?

Criterion B for the diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder (DID) requires recurrent gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events that are inconsistent with ordinary forgetting. Which of the following statements about Criterion B–qualifying amnesia is false?

How many Criterion B symptoms are required to be present for the diagnosis
of acute stress disorder?