Stress has wide ranging effects on the individual. Traumatic stressors represent the most
severe range of the spectrum and are defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
(DSM) as threats to life of self or significant other with intense fear, horror or helplessness
[1]. Traumatic stress so defined affects at least half of the US population [2]. Childhood
sexual abuse is the most common trauma in women while physical assault is most common
in men [3, 4]. Traumatic stress leads to a range of mental disorders, including posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), depression, alcoholism, dissociation, anxiety and borderline
personality disorder [5]. Based on the high overlap amongst these stress-related disorders, I
have argued that they should be considered together as “trauma-spectrum disorders” [5].