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Adjustment Disorder: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood: Life is full of changes. Coping with them can be difficult. Many people feel overwhelmed and "crazy" for a while. Then they get things under control. If they don't, and they become persistently gloomy, angry, and unable to cope, it's most likely adjustment disorder with depressed mood.

Adjustment disorder with depressed mood presumes a triggering life event -- the change you have to adjust to. If you or anyone you know displays these symptoms without a life change, or if the depression seems out of proportion to the change -- such as moving to a new city and not being able to get out of bed -- call a doctor.

• Within 3 months of a stressor and in response to it, the patient develops emotional or behavioral symptoms.
• Either of the following demonstrates the clinical importance of the above symptoms: --Distress that markedly exceeds what you would normally expect from such a stressor, or --Materially impaired job, academic or social functioning
• These symptoms neither fulfill criteria for an Axis I disorder nor are they merely the worsening of a preexisting Axis I or Axis II disorder.
• The symptoms are not caused by Bereavement.
• They don't last longer than 6 months after the end of the stressor (or its consequences).

Specify whether the symptoms are:

Acute: They have lasted less than six months, or

Chronic: They have lasted six months or more (use when stressor is chronic or has lasting effects).

Symptoms

As described the symptoms in each patient will change depending on which adjustment disorder they have. If a patient has an adjustment disorder with disturbance of conduct then they will be more likely to start fighting and also they might end up causing criminal offences and this can result in them going to court and facing fines for what they have done. However if a patient has an adjustment disorder with anxiety then these are the patients that are more likely to lock themselves away from other people. These patients are also more likely to experience the more emotional side of an adjustment disorder, which can involve unexpected crying and also a feeling of depression, as well as feeling slightly nervous about the smallest thing. But these symptoms will change between patients due to the different moods that the patient will experience during the time of the adjustment change. These different feelings though do make it easier for a doctor to correctly diagnose which adjustment disorder each patient will have thanks to the feelings that are present within each person.

Causes

There are causes that can be associated with someone experiencing an adjustment disorder and most of these causes are due to life events that can happen in everyone's life. It seems that anything that causes stress can push someone to the edge and if they fall then they can then experience an adjustment disorder and this can then cause severe depression or even a total change in their character.

Treatment

There is treatment available to patients that are victims of an adjustment disorder and it seems that the main treatment that patients can take is in the form of group therapy. Although there will also be the option of one-on-one therapy incase you feel slightly uncomfortable in group therapy. There is also the option of using prescription medicines on patients who suffer from the anxiety adjustment disorders as this has been know to help them deal with the depression that they would have been feeling due to their adjustment disorder.

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