Posttraumatic stress disorder among military returnees from Afghanistan and Iraq

Although most military personnel returning from recent deployments will readjust successfully to life in the United States, a significant minority will exhibit PTSD or some other psychiatric disorder. Practitioners should routinely inquire about war-zone trauma and associated symptoms when conducting psychiatric assessments. Treatment should be initiated as soon as possible, not only to ameliorate PTSD symptoms but also to forestall the later development of comorbid psychiatric and/or medical disorders and to prevent interpersonal or vocational functional impairment. If evidence-based practices are utilized, complete remission can be achieved in 30%50% of cases of PTSD, and partial improvement can be expected with most patients. We can all look forward to future breakthroughs that will improve our capacity to help people with PTSD.

Journal

English

Matthew J. Friedman

Friedman, M. J. (2006, April). Posttraumatic stress disorder among military returnees from Afghanistan and Iraq. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(4), 586-593. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.163.4.586