ASD and PTSD – Difference, Symptoms, Risks and Causes

ASD and PTSD are two adverse situations caused due to high trauma or continuous traumatic conditions. Therefore, these two diseases should be diagnosed in the early stage and should be taken care of properly. However, though they share some common symptoms, there are certain differences between them.

To learn more about ASD vs PTS, keep reading.

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What Is ASD?

ASD, or acute stress disorder, results from a traumatic condition. Generally, ASD happens within 1 month of a traumatic incident. This includes deep and uncomfortable physical and mental reactions. These reactions lead to severe psychological and physical complications.

Any traumatic incident, such as a dangerous natural disaster, life-threatening incident, or unfortunate incident, can lead to ASD. Maximum time, people recover from ASD on their own; however, in some serious cases, they need professional help.

What Is PTSD?

PTSD stands for post traumatic stress disorder, an adverse mental condition due to any stressful or traumatic incident. The condition is an extended part of acute stress disorder. If ASD remains for more than 1 month, it is considered PTSD.

Depending on the severity of trauma, PTSD lasts for 1 month to several years. However, with proper care and medication, the situation can be overcome. To control the problem, you must stop thinking about the traumatic situations as much as possible.

What Are the Differences Between ASD and PTSD?

Though both conditions are pretty similar to each other, some differences demand discussion. These are as follows:

Parameters	ASD	PTSD
Concept and Meaning	ASD stands for acute stress disorder, an immediate aftereffect of a traumatic incident.	PTSD is the advanced type of ASD that is a high level of ASD.
Symptoms	ASD patients face symptoms like detachment from regular life.	Patients with PTSD have more disturbing symptoms, such as vision of the traumatic event.
Treatment	The treatment process includes short-term psychotherapy	PTSD patients need long-term psychotherapy and serious medication.
Mood	People with ASD feel a low mood.	PTSD patients generally feel irritated or tensed mood
Occurrence	It comes immediately after the traumatic incident	It occurs slowly and lasts for a longer period.
Diagnosis	Diagnosis process includes any post-traumatic symptoms.	There should be at least 6 symptoms: intrusion, avoidance, arousal, reactivity, negative mood and cognition.
Duration	ASD lasts not more than one month	PTSD lasts for more than one month to a few years

What Are the Symptoms of ASD and PTSD?

Therefore, these are some of the major points of ASD vs PTSD that you should know to differentiate between them. Further, let’s move on to the common symptoms of these diseases for more clarity.

Symptoms of ASD

The symptoms of ASD are as follows:

Numbness
Emotionless attitude
Serious anxiety attack
Concentration problems
Flashback
Dissociative symptoms
Sleeping disorder
Avoiding people or places associated with trauma
Arousal symptoms such as aggressiveness

The symptoms of ASD are different from PTSD. ASD symptoms are comparatively less severe and can be cured more quickly. However, the symptoms of PTSD are quite adverse and intense. Let’s have a look at them.

Symptoms of PTSD

The potential symptoms of PTSD are as follows:

Intrusive memories or flashbacks of traumatic events
Nightmares and fearful dreams
Emotional imbalance or feeling of guilt
Avoiding gatherings of people
Avoiding talking about traumatic incidents
Hopelessness
Lack of interest in daily work or activities that once enjoyed
Memory issues
Getting frightened easily
Suicidal tendencies
Unable to maintain close relationships

What Are the Causes of ASD and PTSD?

The main cause of both ASD and PTSD is traumatic incidents. Therefore, this may include:

Death of a near one
Accidents
Natural disasters
Traumatic brain injury
Threat of life
Assault
Sexual humiliation
Domestic abuse

What Are the Risk Factors of ASD and PTSD?

The risk factors for acute and post traumatic stress disorder are the same. They are presented below:

Witnessing a traumatic event
Having different mental conditions
Having past conditions of traumatic disorder
Gender, as females are prone to ASD and PTSD
Younger kids and teens are more prone to develop its symptoms

How to Diagnose ASD and PTSD?

There are clinical evaluations available to diagnose ASD and PTSD. These include the processes like:

Finding out the history of the traumatic incident
Finding out the reaction of hyperarousal
Checking the duration of symptoms
Checking whether the symptoms are affecting daily activities
Examining previous medical conditions

Therefore, the diagnosis process involves active question answering and evaluating the patient’s behaviour to get to the root of the disease. Afterwards, doctors will work on reducing the stress caused by the trauma, depending on the severity. Then, they can give therapies and medications accordingly.

How to Treat ASD and PTSD?

The following are the treatment methods one can follow:

1. Therapy for ASD

The treatment for ASD includes therapies, medication and certain home remedies. These are as follows:

CBT or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: CBT is an effective strategy for understanding the behaviour and mood of a person. To treat ASD, experts use CBT to understand the past incident with the present behavioural conditions.
Mindfulness Therapy: Experts will also suggest stress-managing exercises, meditation and techniques. You may also need to do breathing exercises for better results. Hence, as PTSD is more severe than ASD, it needs advanced treatment.

2. Therapy for PSD

The treatment procedure for PTSD are as follows:

CPT or Cognitive Processing Therapy: CPT is a type of CBT that includes changing unpleasant thoughts. Therefore, it reduces the severity of traumatic incidents and relieves you from pain.
Stress Inoculation Therapy: The therapy is notable for removing extra stress and thus helps to manage excessive stress due to traumatic memories.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy: Prolonged exposure therapy exposes the traumatic incident of a person to a safe space. Afterwards, experts help to manage the triggering conditions and suggest better ways to deal with traumatic anxiety.

3. Medication for Both ASD & PTSD

Anti-depressants: For both ASD and PTSD, experts suggest anti-depressants. Along with psychotherapy, proper dosing of anti-depressants is necessary for treating post traumatic disorder. Apart from these treatments, you can also opt for some natural remedies for optimum help.

4. Home Remedies for Both ASD & PTSD

Relax Your Body and Mind: To heal your brain from traumatic experiences, you can relax your body and mind by indulging in meditation, yoga, and other relaxing exercises.
Don’t Consume Alcohol or Drugs: You may think alcohol or drugs are quick ways to forget traumatic incidents; however, this is not true. Instead, these can worsen the situation and cause other physical ailments.
Sleep Properly: Sleep disruption can cause behavioural issues such as irritability and edgy behaviour. Further, sleeplessness causes adverse effects on your traumatic visions. Therefore, you must maintain a proper sleep cycle to get over the situation quickly.
Maintain Healthy Diet: A healthy diet can boost the brain's functioning. In addition, it further helps in the secretion of positive hormones that will help you to fight against depressive moods. Foods that contain omega 3-s can be a great help for mental health.

When to See a Doctor?

ASD and PTSD involve fearful thoughts about traumatic incidents. Therefore, you should visit a doctor if you face this issue frequently. Further, depending on the severity of the symptoms, you need to opt for treatment. Sometimes, suicidal thoughts are very prevalent; therefore, as soon as you experience this, seek professional help.

Tips to Manage and Prevent ASD and PTSD

Acute and post traumatic stress disorders are severe; however, they can be managed if identified properly. By maintaining the below-mentioned tips, you can prevent the adversity of the symptoms of ASD and PTSD:

Seeking help at the very beginning of coming of disturbing thoughts
Going for medical help for serious issues
Treating previous psychological disorders beforehand
Working on your behaviour with the help of professional assistance for better results
Preparing yourself first if you are going to involve in a high-risk job

Hopefully, the discussion has brought out a comprehensive idea of ASD vs PTSD. The treatment process can be determined depending on the severity and duration of symptoms. However, the risk factors are similar and can be diagnosed with proper clinical help. As the symptoms can get really worse sometimes, it is advisable to seek clinical assistance as soon as possible.

FAQs About ASD and PTSD

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Can ASD turn into PTSD?

Yes, there are possibilities of ASD turning into PTSD within 6 months. However, if you avail proper treatment at the beginning, it may not be that harmful.

What is TFCBT?

It is a trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy involving talk therapy that brings out the methods to cope with traumatic memories.