The DSM-5 PTSD Diagnostic Criteria lesson provided information on PTSD diagnostic criteria according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5).

Some key points you should remember include:

• Peritraumatic factors show the largest contribution to the development of PTSD.
• Various pretrauma and posttrauma factors also relate to increased risk of PTSD.
• A person can be exposed to a traumatic event by directly experiencing a trauma, witnessing a trauma, learning that a close family member or friend experienced trauma, or from repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of a traumatic event(s).
• An individual must meet these criteria for a PTSD diagnosis:
  • Criterion A: Exposure to a traumatic stressor
  • Criterion B: 1 or more intrusion symptoms
  • Criterion C: 1 or more avoidance symptoms
  • Criterion D: 2 or more persistent negative changes in cognition or mood
  • Criterion E: 2 or more alterations in arousal and reactivity
  • Criterion F: Symptom duration for at least one month
  • Criterion G: Clinically significant distress or impairment becasue of the symptoms
  • Criterion H: Symptoms are not better explained by substances or other medical diagnoses
• DSM-5 notes two specifiers that can be given along with a full PTSD diagnosis: delayed expression and dissociative subtype.