Stress caused by traumatic events impacts both psychological and physiological functioning. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a psychiatric condition, occurs when someone experiences or witnesses such an event. Experts have identified PTSD as having significant psychological consequences that can hinder daily life and even pose a threat to one's survival in severe cases. The prevalence of prolonged combat, acts of terrorism, and exposure to specific environmental toxins has led to an increase in the number of individuals suffering from PTSD, especially military personnel who face higher risks due to their job duties. As a result, the federal government faces an urgent national health issue: how to rehabilitate these soldiers and restore their normal lives. Therefore, there is a genuine public health concern surrounding PTSD that motivates the quest for innovative theoretical frameworks and treatment approaches aimed at enhancing our understanding of t
...he condition and implementing more effective interventions.
We explore the current understanding of PTSD and introduce allostasis as a novel perspective in PTSD research (Steenkamp, 2015).
PTSD Evaluation in the Military
Various scales have been developed to evaluate military personnel's PTSD. These include the PTSD Checklist-Military Version, The Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD (M-PTSD), The Combat Exposure Scale, The PK scale (a subscale of the MMPI-2), and the SCID PTSD module. These scales exhibit different levels of reliability and are used to assess the presence of PTSD among veterans. Diagnosing rates vary depending on the assessment method employed. For example, one study compared three measures of assessing PTSD among American and Korean War prisoners of war (POWs) (Steenkamp, 2015).
The study examined two different assessment instruments for measuring PTSD: the M-PTSD and the DSM-III-R SCID. The results showe
that the prevalence rates of PTSD were higher with the unstructured meetings and the M-PTSD (31% and 33%, respectively) compared to the rate of 26% obtained with the SCID. Both the unstructured clinical meeting and the M-PTSD had similar levels of accuracy, consistently contradicting the SCID in 7-15% of cases (Boks, 2016). These differences in rates, depending on the assessment instrument used, may be significant.
The study suggests that there are multiple possible reasons for the findings, including the potential lack of accuracy in M-PTSD self-report instruments compared to the SCID in reflecting DSM criteria. It also highlights that both older and younger war detainees can experience different levels and types of PTSD symptoms. Additionally, individuals with low anxiety levels can still be diagnosed with PTSD, which complicates diagnosis due to subjective anxiety. The study emphasizes that military personnel have a higher risk of developing PTSD compared to individuals in other fields, underscoring the importance of implementing rehabilitation measures for victims.
References
- Steenkamp, M. M., Litz, B. T., Hoge, C. W., & Marmar, C. R. (2015). Psychotherapy for military-related PTSD: a review of randomized clinical trials. Jama, 314(5), 489-500.
- Boks, M.
P., Rutten, B. P., Geuze, E., Houtepen, L. C., Vermetten, E., Kaminsky, Z., and Vinkers, C. H. (2016).
The involvement of SKA2 methylation in cortisol stress reactivity and its predictive role in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after military deployment has been explored in a study published in Neuropsychopharmacology (41(5), 1350-1356).
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