How Is Adjustment Disorder Different from Other Conditions?
Adjustment disorder is distinguished from other mental health conditions in several ways. Unlike major depression or generalized anxiety disorder, adjustment disorder is clearly linked to a specific stressor and symptoms are expected to resolve once the person adapts or the stressor ends. Unlike PTSD, the stressor does not need to involve trauma or threat to life. However, adjustment disorder still causes real suffering and impairment and should be taken seriously.
What Causes Adjustment Disorder?
Anyone can develop adjustment disorder in response to significant stress, but certain factors increase vulnerability including limited coping resources or skills, lack of social support, previous mental health conditions, multiple concurrent stressors, and temperamental factors such as high anxiety sensitivity. The same stressor may cause adjustment disorder in one person but not another, depending on these individual differences.
How Can Treatment Help?
Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adjustment disorder is typically brief and focused on helping you adapt to the stressor or change in your life. Treatment focuses on understanding your reaction to the stressor, developing effective coping strategies, building problem-solving skills, challenging unhelpful thoughts about the situation, strengthening your support network, and processing emotions related to the change or loss.
Your therapist will help you identify specific thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are maintaining distress and work with you to develop more adaptive responses. Treatment also focuses on building resilience so you’re better equipped to handle future stressors.
Because adjustment disorders are typically time-limited, many people benefit from brief, focused treatment. However, if you have a history of difficulty coping with stress, longer-term work on building coping skills may be beneficial.
How Effective Is Treatment?
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is highly effective for adjustment disorder, with most people experiencing significant improvement within a few months. Early intervention can prevent symptoms from worsening or developing into more serious conditions like major depression or anxiety disorders. With treatment, most people successfully adapt to their new circumstances and return to their previous level of functioning.
