Premium
Child maltreatment—Clinical PTSD diagnosis not enough?!: Comment on Resick et al. (2012)
Author(s) -
Lindauer Ramón J. L.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.21698
Subject(s) - psychology , child abuse , psychiatry , posttraumatic stress , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , clinical psychology , medicine , medical emergency
Child maltreatment has a high prevalence. It can lead to severe psychological and physical problems from childhood to late adulthood. At present, the recognition and treatment of child abuse and its consequences is inadequate. Diagnostic criteria, such as those defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association, are vital for that purpose. Resick and colleagues (2012) conclude that insufficient scientific basis now exists for incorporating complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) into DSM‐5 . Although they are right from a research point of view, what would be the clinical, political, and social consequences of not including it? This comment discusses those consequences from the standpoint that treating children with developmental trauma disorder at an early age will serve to prevent later sequelae.