Prevalence of adjustment disorder

The adjustments disorders are considered to be very common. Adjustment disorders occurs equally between males and females, and across all cultures. One epidemiological study conducted in children and adolescents found a prevalence rate of 7.6%.

Adjustment disorder has been diagnosed in as many as 50% in special populations of patients who have experienced specific stressors such as cardiac surgery.

A study concerning psychiatric inpatients 1n 1995 found that 7.1% of the adults and 34.4% of the adolescents had an adjustments disorder diagnosis.

Adjustment disorders are frequently diagnosed in patients after head and neck surgery and in patients with other severe medical problems such as cancer, HIV, in patients suffering from burns, early stage multiple sclerosis and patients who have suffered form strokes.

There are the most common psychiatric syndromes seen in cancer patients. Studies employing diagnostic interviews have found the prevalence of adjustments disorder in cancer patients to range from 16% to 42%. 

These rates are far higher than those found either in the general population or in outpatient psychiatry settings. The majority of patients have adjustment disorder mainly with depressed mood, anxious mood and mixed emotional disturbances.

Because many people with adjustment disorder do not seek medical treatment and experience spontaneous remission of symptoms, its incidence is difficult to assess and many considerably higher than these estimates.
Prevalence of adjustment disorder

Clinical features of adjustment disorder

Adjustment disorder is a residual diagnostic category for stress-related emotional and behavioral disturbances that do not meet criteria for more specific disorder.

Adjustment disorders are closely related in time to a stressful event.

Most people develop mild symptom so psychological distress following any difficult transition or even.

The clinical features including six subtypes:
Depressed mood
Mixed anxiety
Anxious mood
Disturbance of conduct
Mixed disturbance with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct
Unspecified

While the disorder is associated with an increased risk of suicide behaviors, this risk appears to be substantially lower than that of other major psychiatric illnesses, such as major depressive disorder.

Common stressful event include divorce or the end of a close relationship, loss of job , mixing, starting college and medical illness.

The reactions may be depressive, anxious or behavioral in content and the latter are describe mainly in teenagers.

Physical symptoms such a spoor sleep or headaches are also common. Patients feel overwhelmed and unable to cope.
Clinical features of adjustment disorder

Adjustment Disorder

Adjustment disorder is characterized by a psychological response to an identifiable stressor or stressors that result in clinically significant distress or functional impairment.

It is a diagnostic category characterized by an emotional response to a stressful event.

Though this diagnosis is common, it validity has been questioned and research is lacking.

Adjustment disorder was initially conceptualized as a transient personality disorder.

The symptom complex that develops may involve anxious or depressive affect or may present with disturbance or conduct.

It must develop within three months, after the onset of the stressor.

The clinical presentations of adjustment disorder can vary widely:
*Adjustment disorder with depressed mood.
*Adjustment disorder with anxiety.
*Adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood.
*Adjustment disorder with disturbance of conduct
*Adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct.
*Adjustment disorder unspecified.
Adjustment Disorder