Workforce Safety and Wellness Practice Test

When a stress reaction to a traumatic event doesn’t show up right away but later persists, the pattern most often points to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is diagnosed when someone has been exposed to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence and then experiences symptoms that last more than one month and cause significant distress or impairment. Those symptoms cluster into intrusive memories or flashbacks, avoidance of reminders, negative changes in thoughts or mood, and heightened arousal. The “delayed” aspect fits PTSD because symptoms can begin some time after the event rather than immediately.

Acute Stress Disorder would be considered if the symptoms appeared within days up to a month after the trauma, and Adjustment Disorder involves a distress response to a stressor that may not be trauma-specific and doesn’t feature the full trauma-related symptom clusters. Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a broader, ongoing anxiety not tied to a specific traumatic event.