Preoccupation with violent fantasies or behavior is often seen in Vietnam combat veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Violence in these patients can be understood within the framework of self-psychology as a disintegration product which provides emergency structure for the fragmenting self. A case report illustrates this point.

The present study examined behavioral health outcomes, risk behaviors, aggression, alcohol misuse, marital satisfaction, and attitudes toward reintegration associated with an alternative, front-loaded reintegration strategy compared with a more standardized reintegration process in soldiers returning from combat deployments. The type of reintegration strategy used did not predict differences in...

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to examine the combined effect of gender and age on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in order to describe a possible gender difference in the lifespan distribution of PTSD. METHODS Data were collected from previous Danish and Nordic studies of PTSD or trauma. The final sample was composed of 6,548 participants, 2,768 (42.3%) men and 3,780 (57.7%) women...

The relation between viewing television coverage of a mass disaster and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is poorly understood. A cohort of New Yorkers without baseline probable PTSD (N=1787) was assessed 1 year following the September 11, 2001, attacks. The primary outcome was new-onset probable PTSD assessed through a validated scale, and the primary exposure was number ...

Studies showed that earthquake-related posttraumatic stress disorder could be reduced by a single session of therapist instructions for self-exposure to fear cues. Eight single-case experimental studies examined whether such instructions were as effective when delivered through a self-help manual after an initial assessment. After two baseline assessments conducted at the participants homes, th...

Until recently, our understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) relied almost entirely on studies of war veterans and disaster victims. A handful of epidemiologic studies have now been conducted that investigate the natural course of PTSD as it occurs in the general population. Estimates of PTSD prevalence have tended to vary according to the diagnostic criteria used to define the dis...

As a consequence of the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), combatants are constantly involved in various forms of violence. Findings concerning the impact of perpetrating violence on mental health are contradictory, ranging from increasing to buffering the risk for mental ill health. The present study investigated the impact of perpetrating violence on mental health...

OBJECTIVE Only rare data exist comparing cross-cultural aspects of civilian traumatization. We compared prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in German and Chinese crime victims, and investigated the cross-cultural effect of 2 interpersonal predictors. METHOD German (n = 151) and Chinese (n = 144) adult crime victims were assessed several months postcrime. The parallel ques...