w6 - trauma and ASD Flashcards
Q: What is the difference between stress and trauma?
A: Stress is the psychological and physiological response to everyday life events; trauma is a response to extreme distress or threats to safety or life, which rewires the nervous system.
Q: What are Big T and Little t traumas?
A: Big T traumas are large, singular traumatic events like car crashes or assaults. Little t traumas are more subtle, often chronic relational or emotional experiences, especially impactful in childhood.
Q: What are the six trauma and stressor-related disorders in the DSM-5?
A: Reactive Attachment Disorder, Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder, PTSD, Acute Stress Disorder, Adjustment Disorder, Prolonged Grief Disorder.
Q: What distinguishes Reactive Attachment Disorder and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder?
A: They result from social neglect in childhood and are diagnosed while the neglect is ongoing, not after.
Q: What does Criterion A for PTSD require?
A: Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence via direct experience, witnessing, learning about events affecting close ones, or repeated exposure to trauma details.
Q: What are PTSD Criterion B symptoms?
A: Intrusive symptoms such as unwanted memories, nightmares, or flashbacks that intrude on daily life.
Q: What are PTSD Criterion C symptoms?
A: Avoidance of trauma-related stimuli including places, people, emotions, and memories.
Q: What are PTSD Criterion D symptoms?
A: Negative changes in cognition and mood, including shame, guilt, distorted beliefs, and emotional numbing.
Q: What are PTSD Criterion E symptoms?
A: Changes in arousal and reactivity, such as hypervigilance, irritability, exaggerated startle response, and sleep disturbance.
Q: What differentiates PTSD from Acute Stress Disorder?
A: PTSD symptoms last more than 1 month; Acute Stress Disorder symptoms last between 3 days to 1 month.
Q: What is depersonalization in PTSD?
A: A type of dissociation where individuals feel detached from themselves, like observing themselves from outside.
Q: What is derealization in PTSD?
A: A dissociative experience where the external world feels unreal, dreamlike, or distorted.
Q: What is hyperarousal in PTSD?
A: A persistent fight-or-flight state where the nervous system is overly reactive to non-threatening stimuli.
Q: How are trauma memories different from regular memories?
A: They are unprocessed, fragmented, lack narrative, and intrude as random, intense sensory experiences.
Q: What percentage of Australian adults experience trauma? How many develop PTSD?
A: 75% experience trauma; 6–9% develop PTSD.
Q: What is one of the strongest protective factors in PTSD recovery?
A: Social support and community connectedness.
Q: What does trauma-focused CBT for PTSD include?
A: Psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, in-vivo and imaginal exposure, and relapse prevention.
Q: What is EMDR?
A: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing—a therapy combining trauma recall with bilateral stimulation to process fear.
Q: What is imagery rescripting?
A: A therapy technique where the person re-imagines the traumatic event with a new, comforting or empowering ending.
Q: What is the psychoeducation metaphor of the ‘overflowing closet’?
A: Trauma memories are like messy clothes in an overflowing closet. Therapy helps take out, examine, fold, and reorganize them to make them manageable.
Q: What defines complex PTSD (cPTSD)?
A: Repeated exposure to trauma during critical development stages, affecting neurobiology and core beliefs about safety and trust.
Q: What must be considered in trauma treatment with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations?
A: Intergenerational trauma, cultural safety, community-based approaches, and the impact of systemic disadvantage and racism.
