Stage development theorists, from Freud and Jung to Piaget and Erikson might all be in agreement that human development is woven together by the thread of change, growth, and adjustment. Adjustment occurs on a physical and a psychological level. Whether we are adjusting to the seething cauldron of emotions and physiological changes known as adolescence or whether we are adjusting to external changes like relocation, changing careers, or marriage, proper psychological adjustment is necessary to enhance potential development and emotional well-being. At all stages of human development we encounter both internal and external stressors. These stressors manifest a response in us. If we do not adjust in a healthy manner to the stressor, then emotional or behavioral symptoms typically appear.
According to the American Psychiatry Association’s DSM IV, failure to adjust to such changes can manifest symptoms of adjustment disorder in the thoughts and behaviors of individuals who do not cope well under such conditions involving change. Adjustment disorder is listed under the impulse control disorders in the DSM-IV with diagnosis criteria as listed below:
Within 3 months of a stressor and in response to it, the patient develops emotional or behavioral symptoms.
Either of the following demonstrates the clinical importance of the above symptoms:
--Distress that markedly exceeds what you would normally expect from such a stressor, or
--Materially impaired job, academic or social functioning.
These symptoms neither fulfill criteria for an Axis I disorder nor are they merely the worsening of a pre-existing Axis I or Axis II disorder.
The symptoms are not caused by Bereavement.
They don’t last longer than 6 months after the end of the stressor.
We can see from the last adjustment disorder diagnosis criterion that therapy may be ideally suited to such a disorder that is often “temporary” in nature and lends itse...