A diagnostic criterion for PTSD requires significant distress or impairment for:

A diagnostic criterion for PTSD requires significant distress or impairment for:

• A. More than one year
• B. More than one month
• C. More than six months
• D. Up to three weeks

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is how long the symptoms must persist after the trauma to count as PTSD. PTSD requires that symptoms last longer than one month and cause clinically significant distress or impairment. This minimum duration differentiates PTSD from acute stress disorder, which is diagnosed when symptoms occur after the trauma but persist for less than a month. If the symptoms extend beyond one month, they meet the duration threshold for PTSD, even if they continue for many months or years. A window of only a few weeks is too short for PTSD, and there isn’t a fixed requirement like “more than six months” or “more than a year” as the minimum—the defining cutoff is more than one month.

The key idea here is how long the symptoms must persist after the trauma to count as PTSD. PTSD requires that symptoms last longer than one month and cause clinically significant distress or impairment. This minimum duration differentiates PTSD from acute stress disorder, which is diagnosed when symptoms occur after the trauma but persist for less than a month. If the symptoms extend beyond one month, they meet the duration threshold for PTSD, even if they continue for many months or years. A window of only a few weeks is too short for PTSD, and there isn’t a fixed requirement like “more than six months” or “more than a year” as the minimum—the defining cutoff is more than one month.