P25: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Case Report

Following exposure to a major traumatic event like Iran-Iraq war(1980-1988) various reaction occurs, some of which result in stress-related psychiatric disorder. We have briefly described one such case and used it to indicate some features of post-traumatic stress disorder. The patient, B.B, is a 54 years old man who has served in Iran-Iraq war operations for about 19 months. He expresses that two months after leaving the war zone, he had experienced sever anxiety and increased psychomotor reactions to stimuli. His social interaction is impaired and he frequently experiences mood swing. The patient’s main complaints includes:” I get so nervous of not being able to avoid the scenes coming to my mind. My heart beats so fast. It hurts! I become restless. I can’t sit. Sometimes I argue and fight with my children but then I become so regretful”. ECG, exercise tolerance test and echocardiography show no evidence of heart disease in the patient. Also, no brain damages are indicated through the patient’s brain CT scan.  The patient has no history of alcohol consumption, drug abuse, seizure and head injuries. Aggression is observed in the Rorschach test. Based upon the patient’s multiple symptoms, factitious Disorder and mood disorder are excluded from the differential diagnosis, while “post-traumatic stress disorder “is confirmed in the patient. The   treatment includes medications such as Amitriptylin, Propranolol and sodium valproate. In Addition, psychodynamic psychotherapy and stress reduction techniques are administered. B.B confirms the positive effect of the combined treatments. The patient provided informed consent for participation in the interview.