Comprehensive Distancing: A Novel Approach to Reducing Moral Disgust, Shame, and Guilt in Posttraumati Stress Reactions
Abstract
In the current edition of the International Statistical Classification of D iseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) and the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is defined as a constellation of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms that occur in response to a traumatic event (World Health Organization, 1992; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Traumatic events may encom pass a myriad of experienced or w itnessed stressors, including accidents, military combat, natural disasters, sudden loss of a loved one, and physical and sexual assault. Prominent symptoms of PTSD include repeated re-experiencing of the traumatic event, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, affective numbing, and increased psychological and physiological arousal (Elhai & Palmieri, 2011; Friedman, Resick, Bryant, & Brewin, 2011; King, Leskin, King, & W eathers, 1998). These disturbances must cause clinically significant distress and/or impairment in daily functioning for more than one month following the trauma. In recent years, considerable controversy has developed around Criterion A of the DSM-IV-TR diagnosis, which requires individuals to react to traum a specifically with “intense fear, helplessness, or horror” in order to receive a diagnosis of PTSD.
Subject Area
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Ojserkis, Rachel B, "Comprehensive Distancing: A Novel Approach to Reducing Moral Disgust, Shame, and Guilt in Posttraumati Stress Reactions" (2013). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI13853135.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI13853135
