Overview
Acute stress disorder (ASD) is a short-term mental health condition that can happen after a traumatic event. This could be an event that threatens you or someone else. Or it could be an event that causes serious injury. Military combat, a car crash, and sexual assault are some examples.
You can get ASD if the event happened to you or to someone you love. And you can get it if you saw the event happen to someone else. People who are exposed to a lot of traumatic events can also get ASD. For instance, it can happen to police officers and health care workers.
When you have ASD, you may feel like you're going through the event again. This is called a flashback. And you may have disturbing memories or dreams about the event. You may also have trouble going to work, keeping appointments, and being social.
ASD is treated with counselling. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a common type of counselling for this condition. Sometimes medicines are used to treat ASD.
Symptoms of ASD last less than 1 month. If your symptoms last longer than a month, then you may have another condition called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety. Be sure to make and go to all appointments, and call your doctor or nurse advice line (811 in most provinces and territories) if you are having problems. It's also a good idea to know your test results and keep a list of the medicines you take.
Where can you learn more?
Go to https://www.healthwise.net/patientEd
Enter S126 in the search box to learn more about "Acute Stress Disorder (ASD): Care Instructions".