Adjustment disorder has been a recognised disorder for decades but has been
the subject of little epidemiological research. Now researchers have
identified the prevalence of adjustment disorder in primary care, and found
general practitioner recognition very low but with high rates of
antidepressant prescribing. Possible reasons for the seemingly low
prevalence, recognition rate and inappropriate management include its
recognition as a residual category in diagnostic instruments and poor
delineation from other disorders or from normal stress responses. These
problems could be rectified in ICD-11 and DSM-5 if changes according it full
syndromal status, among others, were made. This would have an impact on
future research.