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Did you know there's a connection between symptoms of adjustment disorder and teen suicide?
Adjustment disorder is a maladaptive response to psychosocial stress and is classified as a psychiatric disorder. This adverse reaction typically involves normal emotional and behavioral responses but displays more intense than usual emotions in specific situations, resulting in significant distress, obsessive thoughts about the stressor and its consequences, and functional impairment. Statistically, lifetime prevalence estimates among adults range from 5% to 21%. The proportion of female patients is approximately twice that of male patients. For children and adolescents, men and women are relatively equally likely to develop the disease.
Adjustment disorder was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM-III) in 1980, and has been called a stress response syndrome since 2013. One of its most common symptoms is situational depression.
Emotional symptoms of adjustment disorder include: sadness, despair, lack of interest, nausea, anxiety, helplessness, and suicidal thoughts. DSM-5 divides adjustment disorders into six types. The specific characteristics mainly include: depressive mood, anxiety, mixed depression and anxiety, conduct disorder, mixed mood and behavioral disorder, and unspecified type. The characteristics of different types have their own abnormalities.
According to research, the proportion of adolescent suicides affected by adjustment disorders can reach one in five, and these people often exhibit obvious suicidal behavior.
Risk factors for adjustment disorder include those who have experienced trauma, and age affects younger children who have weaker coping skills, making them more susceptible to stressors. Common sources of stress include: parent-child conflicts, school problems, family tragedies, etc.
The connection between adjustment disorders and suicidal behavior cannot be ignored. Past research has shown that 70% of patients diagnosed with adjustment disorders have attempted suicide before being admitted to the hospital.
The key to diagnosing adjustment disorder is to identify a clear stressor and clinical assessment of symptoms to determine whether they will improve when the stressor is removed. This makes the diagnosis of adjustment disorder relatively vague, especially in the context of chronic stress.
For treatment, patients with adjustment disorders can receive related therapies for depression or anxiety, such as individual psychotherapy, family therapy, peer group therapy, etc. If symptoms are severe, medication may be considered. Parents and carers are vital to supporting children and helping them through difficult times by encouraging them to speak up and providing understanding and support.
Some studies have pointed out that as the COVID-19 epidemic spreads, the prevalence and severity of adjustment disorder symptoms have greatly increased. 75% of participants declared that the epidemic has caused them great pressure.
Although the diagnosis of adjustment disorder has been questioned in some quarters, there is no denying that this diagnosis provides an important starting point for treatment in reality for many patients. Many experts believe that the existence of this condition reminds society to pay attention to mental health.
Have you ever thought deeply about how to effectively identify and deal with the risks caused by adjustment disorders?
