Posttraumatic stress disorder part II: development of the construct within the North American psychiatric taxonomy

The impairment associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) carries with it staggering costs to the individual, to the family, and to society as a whole. Although there is strong evidence that gender plays a significant role in responses to stress and trauma, gender specificity is still not well incorporated into clinical or research work in the area of PTSD.

This is the second of three articles examining the sufficiency of the current PTSD construct to articulate the full spectrum of human responses to trauma. This article chronicles ongoing refinements to the original PTSD criteria and the subsequent controversies.

Existing bodies of theoretical and research literature related to the effects of trauma.

In a third article we will review evidence supporting the existence of a more complex posttraumatic stress reaction associated with interpersonal trauma (physical/sexual abuse/assault).