Adjustment disorder

As the name suggests, adjustment disorder is the difficulty some people experience in response to sudden and significant changes that occur within their lives. 

Although this condition is extremely common, the stigma of some mental illnesses means it perhaps doesn’t get the level of attention of other stress-related conditions, such as workplace stress.

Adjustment disorder causes

When people are unable to cope and adjust to changed life circumstances, their reaction might lead to adjustment disorder.

Some of the more common triggers for adjustment disorder include:

• The death of a family member or close friend.
• Serious personal health issues.
• Relationship issues, including break-ups or marital problems.
• Significant life events, such as the birth of children or retirement.
• Lifestyle, work or financial difficulties.
• Disaster or unexpected tragedy.

Females and males are just as likely to develop adjustment disorder, however adult women on average are diagnosed twice as much as men. Other factors such as genetics, culture, life experiences, and temperament also play a part.

Common signs of adjustment disorder

There are six subtypes of adjustment disorder that are based on the type of major symptoms experienced.

The following are the most common symptoms of each of the subtypes of adjustment disorder:

• Adjustment disorder with depressed mood, e.g. feeling sad, failing to derive pleasure.
• Adjustment disorder with anxiety, e.g. excessive worrying, feeling overwhelmed.
• Adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood, i.e. combination of depression and anxiety.
• Adjustment disorder with disturbance of conduct, e.g. irrational lashing out, bad behaviour.
• Adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct, i.e. a combination of depression, anxiety and disturbance of conduct.
• Adjustment disorder unspecified, i.e. symptoms outside of those described above, often involving withdrawal from social, work or family activities.

Left untreated, adjustment disorder is often associated with short-term symptoms such as sadness, anxiety, and changes in sleeping patterns, eating, behaviour etc., while in the long-term more it can lead to poor health, substance abuse, depression and even suicidal behaviour.

Treating adjustment disorder

Our preferred therapeutic approach when treating adjustment disorder – and other psychological conditions such as workplace stress – is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT.

ACT plays a key role in helping people to better deal with the symptoms of adjustment disorder by establishing effective strategies around calming, acceptance and reframing.

Our XXXXXX psychologist also has experience in the following therapy types:

• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Exposure Therapy and Prolonged Exposure
• Motivational Interviewing
  

Online or face-to-face appointments about treating adjustment disorder can be booked at our XXXXXX clinic through this website.