ABSTRACT
PostTraumaticStressDisorder(PTSD)isuniqueamongotherpsychiatric diagnosesbecauseofthegreatimportanceplacedupontheetiologicalagent,the traumaticstressor.Infact,onecannotmakeaPTSDdiagnosisunlessthepatient hasactuallymetthe'stressorcriterion'whichmeansthatheorshehasbeen exposedtoaneventthatisconsideredtraumatic.Clinicalexperiencewiththe PTSDdiagnosishasshown,however,thatthereareindividualdifferences regardingthecapacitytocopewithcatastrophicstresssothatwhilesomepeople exposedtotraumaticeventsdonotdevelopPTSD,othersgoontodevelopthefullblownsyndrome.Suchobservationshavepromptedtherecognitionthattraumais notanexternalphenomenonthatcanbecompletelyobjectified.Likepain,the traumaticexperienceisfilteredthroughcognitiveandemotionalprocessesbeforeit canbeappraisedasanextremethreat.Becauseofindividualdifferencesinthis appraisalprocess,differentpeopleappeartohavedifferenttraumathresholds, somemoreprotectedandsomemorevulnerabletodevelopingclinicalsymptoms afterexposuretoextremelystressfulsituations.Althoughthereisarenewed interestinsubjectiveaspectsoftraumaticexposure,itmustbeemphasisedthat exposuretoeventssuchasrape,torture,genocide,andseverewarzonestress,are experiencedastraumaticeventsbynearlyeveryone(Flannery,1998).
