Adjustment Disorders in DSM-5: Implications for Occupational Health Surveillance

Work-related stress is experienced when the demands of the work environment exceed the employees’ ability to cope with (or control) them. Recently, in DSM5, disorders which are precipitated by specific stressful and potentially traumatic events in the workplaces are included in a new diagnostic category, “Trauma and Stress-related Disorders”, which includes both Adjustment Disorders (Ads) and PTSD. Adjustment disorder is a common diagnosis in psychiatric settings and carries a significant rate of morbidity. Nevertheless, until now, despite its relative frequency, adjustment disorder has been poorly covered in the literature; this diagnostic category has been the subject of criticism. Occupational Health Surveillance could reduce the misdiagnosis of AD and, simultaneously, improve the research on “work-related stress disorders”.