2019 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 52-58
Anxious-depressive attack (ADA) is a symptom cluster, without a direct psychological cause, comprised of a sudden intense, distressing emotional fit; this is followed by the intrusion of ruminative thoughts, such as negative memories of several stories accompanied by severe agitation and worry. These symptoms result in coping behaviors, including acting out. ADA is seen in anxiety disorders, affective disorders, and some personality disorders. ADA mimics complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) in terms of re-experiencing past negative events in the form of vivid memories accompanied by intense emotions, autonomic arousal, and hypervigilance. Disturbances in self-organization (DSO), which is a proposed hierarchical structure of CPTSD described in ICD-11, are also seen regularly in ADA. DSO affects dysregulation, negative self-concept, and relationship disturbances, which are also observed in patients with ADA. These are considered to be consequences of rejection sensitivity. This is because patients with ADA show a higher level of social anxiety. ADA differs from CPTSD in some ways; it comprises a definite symptom cluster that is seen trans-diagnostically. The ruminative intriguing thoughts of ADA are abundant and mostly not severe traumatic memories, sometimes, they are even anticipatory concerns or happy past events. Moreover, ADA and panic attacks appear alternatively in panic disorders. It is concluded that ADA is similar to, but has specific differences from CPTSD, as described in ICD-11.
