A proposal of diagnostic specifiers related to stress and trauma: A contribution to psycho-pathological nosology

Abstract

Considerable empirical evidence is now available to show that many psychopathological conditions are influenced by stress and/or traumas. However, the diagnostic manuals of the DSM and ICD sys-tems do not always allow us to establish this relation in a precise and adequate way. Starting from working definitions of stress and trauma, we propose a series of diagnostic specifiers which can be included in the I axis of these diagnostic systems. The proposed specifiers are: 1) stress specifiers: when a disorder is linked to acute stress, chronic stress or trauma and 2) specifiers of factors associ-ated with stress: predisposition, trigger factors or maintenance. The use of these specifiers would im-prove diagnostic accuracy, disclose more information regarding the relations between stress and psy-chopathology and would be beneficial in terms of patient therapy.