From DSM-IV of the American Psychiatric Association.

309.81 DSM-IV Criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

A. The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following have been present:

(1) the person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others (2) the person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror. Note: In children, this may be expressed instead by disorganized or agitated behavior.

B. The traumatic event is persistently reexperienced in one (or more) of the following ways:

(1) recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or perceptions. Note: In young children, repetitive play may occur in which themes or aspects of the trauma are expressed.

(2) recurrent distressing dreams of the event. Note: In children, there may be frightening dreams without recognizable content.

(3) acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (includes a sense of reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations, and dissociative flashback episodes, including those that occur upon awakening or when intoxicated). Note: In young children, trauma-specific reenactment may occur.

(4) intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.

(5) physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.

C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma), as indicated by three (or more) of the following:

(1) efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma

(2) efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the trauma

(3) inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma

(4) markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities

(5) feeling of detachment or estrangement from others

(6) restricted range of affect (e.g., unable to have loving feelings)

(7) sense of a foreshortened future (e.g., does not expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a normal life span)

D. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (not present before the trauma), as indicated by two (or more) of the following:

(1) difficulty falling or staying asleep
(2) irritability or outbursts of anger
(3) difficulty concentrating
(4) hypervigilance
(5) exaggerated startle response

E. Duration of the disturbance (symptoms in Criteria B, C, and D) is more than one month.

F. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Specify if:
Acute: if duration of symptoms is less than 3 months
Chronic: if duration of symptoms is 3 months or more

Specify if:
With Delayed Onset: if onset of symptoms is at least 6 months after the stressor

If you have a medal of valor, or a medal showing combat the following is very important to you:
In VA Manual M21-1 Part III 5.10a “avoid asking the veteran for specific details in any case where the record supports the stressor, do not send a letter needlessly asking him to relive the traumatic events. VA Manual M21-1 Part III 5.10a (b) 1. states if the claimed stressor is related to combat, evidence of the receipt of the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Silver Star, BSM w./V or other similar combat related citation is considered supportive evidence indicating involvement of stressful episode” I received the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantry Badge. No further development is required under your regulations.

For Marines, Navy, Coast Guard the Combat Action Ribbon will work as the CIB.

Notice
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Thanks,
Dave

Although the PTSD criteria mentioned above are accurate, there are other disorders which can be comingled with PTSD and often confound a diagnostician, including anxiety, depression, sustance use, TBI and the call between PTSD and Acute Stress Disorder (ASD).

Don't be afraid to challenge any findings about a diagnosis you have been given if it you disagree with it. All this information is available right here: www.psych.org. By the way, the DSM-IV has been revised and is now the DSM-IV TR.

The DSM series is consistently upgraded and compared with the international ICD codes which are used at many medical establishments both in CONUS and abroad.

The DSM-IV originally was the most significant development in the history of the DSM series as it contained the MacArthur Field Trials, which was the first time that criterion-based referencing of the manual was accomplished. Prior to that, the DSM series were developed by a series of committees and there was no independent verification of the criteria.