Cognitive behavioural therapy, which includes exposure and cognitive restructuring, was found to be effective in preventing PTSD in patients diagnosed with acute stress disorder with clinically significant results at six-month follow-up appointments. A combination of relaxation, cognitive restructuring, imaginal exposure, and in-vivo exposure was superior to supportive counselling. Mindfulness-based stress reduction programmes also appear to be effective for stress management.The pharmacological approach has made some progress in lessening the effects of ASD. To relax patients and allow for better sleep, Prazosin can be given to patients, which regulates their sympathetic response. Hydrocortisone has shown some success as an early preventative measure following a traumatic event, typically in the treatment of PTSD.In a wilderness context where counselling, psychotherapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy is unlikely to be available, the treatment for acute stress reaction is very similar to the treatment of cardiogenic shock, vascular shock, and hypovolemic shock; that is, allowing the patient to lie down, providing reassurance, and removing the stimulus that prompted the reaction. In traditional shock cases, this generally means relieving injury pain or stopping blood loss. In an acute stress reaction, this may mean pulling a rescuer away from the emergency to calm down or blocking the sight of an injured friend from a patient. History
The term "acute stress disorder" was first used to describe the symptoms of soldiers during World War I and II, and it was therefore also termed "combat stress reaction" (CSR). Approximately 20% of U.S. troops displayed symptoms of CSR during WWII.
Hans Selye was the first to coin the term "general adaptation syndrome" to suggest that stress-induced physiological responses proceed through the stages of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.The sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system gives rise to a specific set of physiological responses to physical or psychological stress. The bodys response to stress is also termed a "fight or flight" response, and it is characterised by an increase in blood flow to the skeletal muscles, heart, and brain, a rise in heart rate and blood pressure, dilation of pupils, and an increase in the amount of glucose released by the liver.The onset of an acute stress response is associated with specific physiological actions in the sympathetic nervous system, both directly and indirectly through the release of adrenaline and, to a lesser extent, noradrenaline from the medulla of the adrenal glands. These catecholamine hormones facilitate immediate physical reactions by triggering increases in heart rate and breathing, constricting blood vessels. An abundance of catecholamines at neuroreceptor sites facilitates reliance on spontaneous or intuitive behaviours often related to combat or escape.Normally, when a person is in a serene, non-stimulated state, the firing of neurons in the locus ceruleus is minimal. A novel stimulus, once perceived, is relayed from the sensory cortex of the brain through the thalamus to the brain stem.