UK PTSD rate lower than US

British soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have displayed a lower rate of PTSD than American soldiers. Why? For one thing, their UK soldiers were, on average, older than the American soldiers. There were also fewer UK reservists and UK soldiers served shorter tours of duty.

Time has more on this subject:

Why Is the UK’s PTSD Rate So Much Lower Than the U.S.’s?

9 in 10 firefighters suffer PTSD

A new study out of New Ben-Gurion University in Israel shows that 9 in 10 firefighters showed symptoms of PTSD (24%) or partial PTSD (67%).

The study was conducted by Dr. Marc Lougassi, who is not just a doctoral student at the university but is also a firefighter himself. It examined 342 active Israeli firefighters who had been exposed to traumatic events since 1997. The study excluded any firefighters with histories of psychiatric treatment or chronic pain, as well as anyone who had suffered a head injury.

According to Dr. Lougassi, "Professional firefighters are frequently exposed to extreme stress during their work in emergency situations. In addition to the physical challenges of firefighting, they must evacuate burned and injured victims or bodies. Their involvement in traumatic events exposes them not only to the pressures stemming from the traumatic event itself, but also to post-traumatic emotional expressions that result in secondary traumatization."

In addition to "normal" firefighter duties, Lougassi said that firefighters in Israel are frequently "exposed to additional traumas such as war and terror strikes."

It is unclear if Lougassi's study was published in a scientific journal or if it was just announced by the university.

Read more:

Ninety Percent of Firefighters Exhibit Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Northern Ireland has highest levels of PTSD worldwide

Decades of violence and strife have led the citizens of Northern Ireland to have the highest levels of PTSD in the world, according to a newly released study carried out by psychologists from University of Ulster and trauma treatment experts from Omagh. (Both the University of Ulster and the city of Omagh are in Northern Ireland.)

The study actually examines the economic cost of PTSD -- it's called "The Economic Impact of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Northern Ireland" -- and it says that PTSD costs the country close to £175 million (about $275 million ) a year. That includes both direct costs (e.g., medical costs) and indirect costs such as productivity loss.

According to the research, 8.8% of the adults in Northern Ireland have met the criteria for PTSD at some point in their lifetimes. (Worldwide rates, in at least one previous study, have been cited at 7.8%.)

Read more:
University of Ulster press release, BBC, Belfast Telegraph

War can give military working dogs PTSD

A USA Today article about military working dogs and their vital role in the current military conflicts also talks about how the trauma of war can give these canines PTSD:

"...incidents of canine post-traumatic stress disorder are on the rise, said Lt. Col. Richard A. Vargus, chief of the law enforcement branch at CENTCOM.

"Our biggest issue that we have with canines is canine PTSD," he said. "We've seen a significant issue with that because when you're standing 10 feet away from an explosion, the dog has emotions and the dog is affected as well."

If the dog is fearful, it may bite the handler, run and hide, or cower behind the handler if it thinks the team is preparing to go on patrol, Vargus said.

Read more:
Canine programs expand to save more troops

US soldiers 7 times as likely as UK troops to develop PTSD

Does culture impact how you react to trauma? The UK newspaper The Independent examines the possibility that PTSD is not a universal response:

The invisible division: US soldiers are seven times as likely as UK troops to develop post-traumatic stress - Americas, World - The Independent

Newsweek asks, "Do the Taliban Get PTSD?"

In a headline sure to draw attention, Newsweek asks, Do the Taliban Get PTSD?

It's an over-simplified question, but the truth, as Newsweek itself points out, is that after decades of non-stop war and aggression, just about everyone in Afghanistan probably has some form of psychological trauma:

Combat-related mental problems are a fact of life for just about everyone in Afghanistan, of course. According to Dr. Suraya Dalil, Afghanistan’s health minister, 60 percent of the population is suffering from mental-health problems, thanks not only to the war but to the country's extreme poverty and woefully inadequate health care. "Mental illness among the people is as common as malaria," says Mullah Mohammad. "It's alarming, but not surprising, that there are so many psychologically disturbed people in Afghanistan," says Dr. Wahab Yousafzai, a Pakistani psychiatrist who runs training courses for Afghan physicians who work in provincial health-care centers. "Common people feel helpless. Death can come at any minute from U.S. and NATO forces or the Taliban."

We've seen the same in other countries that have experienced war and struggle stretching across multiple generations, such as Sri Lanka, Ireland, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Cyprus to name a few.

The main question really isn't the one that Newsweek asks, but how many generations it will take Afghanistan and other countries to cleanse themselves of the pain of trauma.

Lethal Warriors: New Book Examines How PTSD Turned Veterans Violent

The Atlantic magazine has an excellent review/essay about the new book Lethal Warriors, about how PTSD can make soldiers self-destruct and turn violent.

You can find out more about the book itself here:

PTSD in Refugees

The National Center for Refugees has another in their excellent series of articles, this one covering PTSD in Refugees.

According to the article, refugees can experience PTSD at rates as low as 4% but as high as 86%, depending on their situations and the traumas they encountered.

Unfortunately, not much in the form of treatment exists yet for refugees with PTSD, so let's keep this oft-neglected populace in our thoughts.

Troops Discharged for Mental Illness Up 64 Percent

From the story:

"...discharges due to psychological problems are up 64 percent from 2005, and are now the culprit for one in nine medical discharges.

Discharges among soldiers with a physical and a mental impairment also increased, up 174 percent since 2005.

Mental health discharges include those related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), now estimated to afflict 20 to 30 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans."

Read more:

Troops Discharged for Mental Illness Up 64 Percent

Effects of trauma-focused psychotherapy upon war refugees

A new study to be published in the Journal of Trauma Stress looks at war refugees and possible ways to treat them. Here's the abstract, ahead of the paper's publication:

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of a trauma-focused psychotherapy upon war refugees from Bosnia. Seventy refugees who met the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and somatoform disorders were included. The first 35 refugees were offered psychotherapy and the following 35 refugees received usual care. Outcome variables were changes in self-reported PTSD symptoms, psychological symptoms, and health status. At 12-month follow-up, participants in the intervention group reported significantly lower scores on the PTSD scale and the measure of psychological symptoms than the comparison group participants. Our results suggest that psychotherapy reduces symptoms of PTSD and somatoform disorders among war refugees even in the presence of insecure residence status.