Definition
An adjustment disorder (AD) is a diagnosis typically considered for individuals who fail to adjust following an identifiable stressful life event and which leads to substantial emotional distress and/or has a detrimental impact on an individuals’ functioning. This disorder is intended to describe the short-term emotional and functional impact of stressful life events.
Description
Brief History
The term “adjustment disorder” (AD) was first introduced in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980). In contrast, AD was introduced for the first time in the tenth edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD; World Health Organization (WHO) 1992) categories. Previous editions of the ICD have referred to AD as “adjustment reaction” and “transient situational disturbances” (Kazlauskas et al. 2018). Similarly, earlier editions of DSM referred to adjustment problems as “transient...
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References and Further Reading
Bachem, R., & Casey, P. (2018). Adjustment disorder: A diagnosis whose time has come. Journal of Affective Disorders, 227, 243–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.10.034.
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Kangas, M. (2020). Adjustment Disorders in Health. In: Gellman, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_101977-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_101977-1
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