Minimizing your Risk of PTSD from COVID-19

I was recently asked if I thought the pandemic is a national trauma. The answer is a simple “Yes.” By the standards of the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), the volume used by mental health professionals to guide diagnosis and treatment, the COVID-19 pandemic meets the criteria for trauma. Not all stressful events meet those criteria. The DSM-5 definition of trauma requires “actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence” (italics mine). Stressful events not involving an immediate threat to life or physical injury (such as a divorce or job loss) are not considered trauma in this definition.  COVID-19 does threaten everyone in the U.S. (indeed, everyone globally) with death. That is not an overly dramatic statement. The number of deaths by COVID-19 in the U.S. keeps climbing. At this writing, more than 65,000 Americans have died. Projection of the number of future deaths is difficult because of the lack of solid data and because how well people will comply with social distancing guidelines going forward is unknown and unpredictable. One model used by the White House projects close to 82,000 COVID-19 deaths in the United States by August 4, assuming the country implements full social distancing until the end of May. That assumption is a big “if.” But does exposure to the trauma that is COVID-19 mean that you will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? Probably not.  According to data from National Comorbidity Survey Replicat...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Psychology PTSD Self-Help coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic social distancing Trauma Source Type: blogs