DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD National Center for PTSD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association revised the PTSD diagnostic criteria in the fifth edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
PTSD is included in a new category in the DSM-5, Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders. All the conditions included in this classification require exposure to a traumatic or stressful event as a diagnostic criterion.
NOTE: Diagnosis of PTSD or any other disorder can only be made by a Registered Psychologist with specific and formal clinical training or a Psychiatrist or Medical Doctor. Please exercise caution when reviewing the following as it is a common occurrence for non-professionals to assume they meet the criteria.
All the criteria are required for the diagnosis of PTSD.
The following text summarizes the diagnostic criteria:
Criterion A: stressor (one required)
Direct Exposure:
Indirect Exposure:
Criterion B: intrusion symptoms (one required)
The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in the following way(s):
Criterion C: avoidance (one required)
Avoidance of trauma-related stimuli after the trauma, in the following way(s):
Criterion D: negative alterations in cognitions and mood (two required)
Negative thoughts or feelings that began or worsened after the trauma, in the following way(s):
Criterion E: alterations in arousal and reactivity Trauma-related arousal and reactivity that began or worsened after the trauma, in the following way(s):
Criterion F: Duration (required)
Criterion G: Functional Significance (required)
Criterion H: exclusion (required) Symptoms are not due to medication, substance use, or other illness.
Two specifications: