scholarly journals A Dynamic Model of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for Military Personnel and Veterans

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. e0161405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Navid Ghaffarzadegan ◽  
Alireza Ebrahimvandi ◽  
Mohammad S. Jalali
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Model ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic

Post-traumatic stress disorder and risk for suicide in combat veterans

2021 ◽  
pp. 269-274
Author(s):  
Herbert Hendin
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy ◽  
Combat Veterans ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Not At Risk

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition associated with suicide in both military personnel and combat veterans. Most veterans with PTSD, however, are not at risk of suicide. The major factor distinguishing those who attempted or were preoccupied with suicide is persistent severe guilt over behaviour in combat while emotionally out of control. A 12-session short-term, psychodynamic psychotherapy, presented here in this chapter, showed promise of success in dissipating the guilt from combat-related actions in veterans of the war in Vietnam. Preliminary work with combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan indicates it may be equally successful in treating them.

scholarly journals Development of Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness in Relation to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Trajectories After Military Deployment

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 247054701880351
Author(s):  
Alieke Reijnen ◽  
Elbert Geuze ◽  
Rosalie Gorter ◽  
Eric Vermetten
Keyword(s):  
Military Personnel ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Character Traits ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Symptom Trajectories ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Over Time

Background Personality traits, such as the character traits self-directedness and cooperativeness, might play a role in the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after deployment to a combat zone. However, it is unclear whether these traits are preexisting risk factors or if event-related changes might also be associated with PTSD symptoms over time. Therefore, the current aim was to assess if military deployment is associated with changes in cooperativeness and self-directedness and to study how these traits are related to PTSD symptom trajectories. Methods In a large cohort of military personnel (N = 1007), measurements were performed before, at one and six months, and two and five years after deployment to Afghanistan. Linear mixed-effect models were used to assess the individual change in the traits over time and to study the relation with potential predictors. Results Cooperativeness was found to remain stable, whereas self-directedness was found to slightly decrease over time. This decrease was related to the development of PTSD symptoms over time. Furthermore, lower levels of self-directedness were associated with the symptomatic trajectories of PTSD symptoms. Lower levels of cooperativeness were only associated with the recovered PTSD trajectory. Conclusions So, not only do the findings confirm that lower levels of these character traits are associated with the development of PTSD symptoms, it was also shown that there are differences in the relation between these traits and the course of PTSD symptoms. Studying methods to promote the levels of these character traits might help to improve the resiliency of military personnel.

scholarly journals Risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder among UK Armed Forces personnel

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 511-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Iversen ◽  
N. T. Fear ◽  
A. Ehlers ◽  
J. Hacker Hughes ◽  
L. Hull ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Military Personnel ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Extreme Stress ◽  
Stress Symptoms ◽  
Post Traumatic

BackgroundThere is considerable interest in understanding further the factors that increase the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for military personnel. This study aimed to investigate the relative contribution of demographic variables; childhood adversity; the nature of exposure to traumatic events during deployment; appraisal of these experiences; and home-coming experiences in relation to the prevalence of PTSD ‘caseness’ as measured by a score of ⩾50 on the PTSD Checklist (PCL) in UK Armed Forces personnel who have been deployed in Iraq since 2003.MethodData were drawn from the first stage of a retrospective cohort study comparing UK military personnel who were deployed to the 2003 Iraq War with personnel serving in the UK Armed Forces on 31 March 2003 but who were not deployed to the initial phase of war fighting. Participants were randomly selected and invited to participate. The response rate was 61%. We have limited these analyses to 4762 regular service individuals who responded to the survey and who have been deployed in Iraq since 2003.ResultsPost-traumatic stress symptoms were associated with lower rank, being unmarried, having low educational attainment and a history of childhood adversity. Exposure to potentially traumatizing events, in particular being deployed to a ‘forward’ area in close contact with the enemy, was associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms. Appraisals of the experience as involving threat to one's own life and a perception that work in theatre was above an individual's trade and experience were strongly associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms. Low morale and poor social support within the unit and non-receipt of a home-coming brief (psycho-education) were associated with greater risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms.ConclusionsPersonal appraisal of threat to life during the trauma emerged as the most important predictor of post-traumatic stress symptoms. These results also raise the possibility that there are important modifiable occupational factors such as unit morale, leadership, preparing combatants for their role in theatre which may influence an individual's risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Therefore interventions focused on systematic preparation of personnel for the extreme stress of combat may help to lessen the psychological impact of deployment.

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