Which statement about PTSD diagnosis duration is true?

• A. PTSD requires symptoms to persist for more than one month.
• B. PTSD symptoms must persist for less than 24 hours.
• C. PTSD can be diagnosed after 12 minutes.
• D. PTSD is only diagnosed if trauma is chronic.

Answer: (A)

Duration of symptoms after a traumatic event is what this item is testing. PTSD is diagnosed when the distressing symptoms last for more than one month and cause significant distress or impairment. This time frame helps distinguish PTSD from shorter-lived reactions; if symptoms arise after trauma but clear up within a month, the condition might be acute stress disorder rather than PTSD. It’s also not required that the trauma be ongoing or chronic— PTSD can follow a single traumatic event as well as multiple events. So the statement that symptoms must persist for more than one month is the correct way to capture the diagnostic duration rule.