Presenting Complaints

• Patients feel overwhelmed or unable to cope because of recent stressors.
• There may be stress-related physical symptoms such as insomnia, headache, abdominal pain, chest pain, palpitations.
  

Diagnostic Features

• Acute reaction to recent stressful or traumatic event.
• Extreme distress resulting from a recent event, or continued preoccupation with the event.
• Symptoms may be primarily somatic.
• Other symptoms may include:
  
  
  • low or sad mood
  • anxiety
  • worry
  • feeling unable to cope
    
    
• Acute reaction usually lasts from a few days to several weeks.
  

Differential Diagnosis

• If dissociative symptoms (sudden onset of unusual or dramatic somatic symptoms) are present, see Dissociative (conversion) disorder
  
  
• Acute symptoms may persist or evolve over time. If significant symptoms persist longer than one month, consider an alternative diagnosis:
  
  
• if significant symptoms of depression persist, see Depression
  
  
• if significant symptoms of anxiety persist, see Generalized anxiety
  
  
• if significant symptoms of depression persist, see Unexplained somatic complaints
  
  
• if significant symptoms of depression persist, see Bereavement disorders