Which statement about Acute Stress Disorder is true?

• A. It requires no exposure to trauma.
• B. It requires at least 2 symptoms.
• C. It requires exposure to a traumatic event and at least 9 symptoms across intrusion, negative mood, dissociation, avoidance, and arousal.
• D. It is diagnosed only after 6 months.

Answer: (C)

In Acute Stress Disorder, you must have been exposed to a traumatic event and then develop a cluster of symptoms within a specific time frame. The event exposure can be direct, witnessing the trauma, learning that a close relative or friend experienced a trauma, or being repeatedly exposed to details of the event (as in some professionals). After that exposure, the person needs at least nine symptoms that fall into five domains: intrusion (re-experiencing the event), negative mood, dissociation, avoidance, and arousal. The total of nine or more across these domains, beginning within 3 days and lasting no more than 1 month after the event, is what defines Acute Stress Disorder. This time window is why it’s distinct from PTSD, which is diagnosed when symptoms persist beyond one month. If fewer than nine symptoms are present, or the duration extends beyond one month without meeting PTSD criteria, the ASD diagnosis would not apply. That combination of trauma exposure plus nine-symptom threshold within the 3-day-to-1-month window is what makes this statement the true one.