What disorders belong to trauma- and stressor-related disorders?;PTSD, acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder, reactive attachment disorder, disinhibited social engagement disorder.
What is the time window for acute stress disorder?;3 days to 1 month after trauma.
When can PTSD be diagnosed?;From 1 month after trauma onward.
What is psychotrauma according to DSM-5 Criterion A?;Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence.
What are the four ways to be exposed to trauma (Criterion A)?;Direct experience, witnessing, learning about close others, repeated/extreme exposure to details.
What type of exposure does not count as trauma?;Exposure through media unless work-related.
What are three possible outcomes after trauma?;PTSD/mental disorders, recovery/no problems, posttraumatic growth.
What is lifetime prevalence of potentially traumatic events (PTE)?;Around 80%.
What is lifetime prevalence of PTSD?;Roughly 7–11%.
What defines intrusion symptoms in PTSD?;Re-experiencing the trauma in the present.
Name key intrusion symptoms.;Intrusive memories, nightmares, flashbacks, distress to reminders, physiological reactivity.
What defines avoidance symptoms in PTSD?;Avoidance of trauma-related internal or external cues.
What are internal avoidance symptoms?;Avoiding thoughts, memories, feelings.
What are external avoidance symptoms?;Avoiding places, people, situations.
What characterizes negative alterations in cognition and mood?;Persistent negative beliefs, mood, memory gaps, detachment.
Name key symptoms in cognition/mood cluster.;Negative beliefs, guilt, negative mood, loss of interest, estrangement, lack of positive emotions.
What characterizes arousal and reactivity symptoms?;Heightened threat sensitivity and physiological activation.
Name key arousal symptoms.;Irritability, reckless behavior, hypervigilance, startle response, concentration problems, sleep problems.
How many PTSD symptom clusters exist?;Four clusters (B, C, D, E).
What is unique about PTSD diagnosis compared to most DSM disorders?;The cause (trauma exposure) is required for diagnosis.
What is the core problem explained by the cognitive model of PTSD?;A persistent sense of current threat.
What maintains the sense of current threat in PTSD?;Maladaptive appraisals and poorly integrated trauma memory.
What is a key feature of trauma memory in PTSD?;It is poorly contextualized and feels like happening “here and now.”
Why do PTSD patients experience threat in the present?;Because trauma memories are not integrated into autobiographical memory.
What does the cognitive model predict about triggers?;Neutral cues can trigger re-experiencing due to associations.
What is CISD (critical incident stress debriefing)?;A single-session intervention shortly after trauma.
What is the effectiveness of CISD?;No clear benefit and possibly harmful.
What are first-line psychological treatments for PTSD?;Exposure, cognitive therapy, EMDR, TF-CBT, narrative exposure, etc.
What is the first step in PTSD treatment according to guidelines?;Diagnosis.
What is the second step in PTSD treatment?;First-choice trauma-focused therapy.
What happens if first treatment fails?;Try another first-line treatment.
What is the final step in treatment if needed?;Intensified care or alternative treatments.
What is the key mechanism in exposure therapy?;Learning that the conditioned stimulus no longer predicts threat (CS–no US).
Why can fear return after exposure?;Original CS–US association is not erased.
What alternative explanation exists for exposure effects?;Inhibitory learning rather than unlearning.
What is the memory-based explanation of PTSD treatment?;Trauma memory becomes integrated into autobiographical memory.
What is the cognitive mechanism of therapy?;Changing dysfunctional beliefs about the trauma.
What does cognitive therapy target in PTSD?;Dysfunctional and irrational cognitions.
What is the core idea of EMDR?;Dual task reduces vividness and emotional intensity of memory.
How does EMDR affect memory?;It modifies memory during reconsolidation.
What is working memory’s role in EMDR?;Limited capacity reduces emotional intensity of recalled trauma.
What is imagery rescripting?;Changing the content of traumatic imagery with a new script.
How does imagery rescripting differ from EMDR?;It changes meaning/content rather than using distraction.
What is the difference between psychological and pharmacological reconsolidation disruption?;Psychological uses tasks (EMDR), pharmacological uses drugs (e.g., propranolol).