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United Kingdom military personnel have been involved in the recent Iraq war. While fatalities and casualties were relatively light compared to other conflicts historically, individual incidents can, nevertheless, have a lasting impact on individuals who witness them or are involved. Subsequent wars, though not participated in, can lead to a recurrence of damage. In this care study, Alan Pringle and Dass Musruck illustrate the use of scripted exposure and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) in the treatment of John, an English veteran of the Korean War who presented with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Scripted exposure involves the patient keeping a written record of their most intrusive and distressing thoughts and feelings
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a condition that appears to be increasing in its prevalence (O'Brien and Nutt, 1998) and is, according to Bleich et al (1997), the most prevalent disorder in war veterans seeking psychiatric treatment. PTSD has been observed and recorded in several veteran populations that have been studied, including World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. PTSD has also been evident in United Nations peacekeeping forces deployed to war zones around the world. (Wolfe and Proctor, 1996).
The symptoms of what we know, today, as PTSD have been evidenced under various labels in war veterans from as far back as the American Civil War (1861-65) when the presentation of features was referred to as 'soldier's heart'. In World War I it was called 'shell shock', and by World War II it had the labels 'war neurosis' and 'combat fatigue' attached. By the time of the Vietnam War, this collection of symptoms had become known as 'combat stress reaction'.
PTSD has marked psychological symptoms and accompanying biological changes. The condition is complicated because it frequently occurs in conjunction with related disorders such as depression, substance abuse, problems of memory and cognition, and other problems of physical and mental health. The disorder is also associated with impairment of the person's ability to function in social or family life, including occupational instability, marital problems and divorces, family discord, and difficulties in parenting.
It is listed in DSM IV as 309.81 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and is said to be characterised by: The development of characteristic...