The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess group differences between veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in mindful awareness and mindful non-judging. The relationships between mindfulness and PTSD symptom clusters were also evaluated. Three age and gender-matched groups, 1)15 combat veterans with PTSD, 2)15 combat veterans without PTSD, and 3) 15 non-c...

Virtual Reality Graded Exposure Therapy (VRGET) is an effective treatment for combat-related PTSD. We summarize the outcomes of a VRGET pilot study with 12 participants who completed one to multiple combat tours in support of the War on Terrorism and who were subsequently diagnosed with combat-related PTSD. Details of the collaborative program amongst the Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC), ...

BACKGROUND Military service is considered to be a hidden variable underlying current knowledge about well-being in the elderly. This study aimed to examine life satisfaction and quality of life in Australia's surviving male Korean War veterans and a community comparison group, and to investigate any association with war deployment-related factors. METHODS Participants completed a postal quest...

Studies of the long-term cardiovascular consequences of combat stress are few and inconclusive. The association between remote exposure to combat and subclinical atherosclerosis was assessed among 5,347 men in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. Coronary artery plaque and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) were compared between non-veterans and veterans with and without one or mor...

The long-term effects of blast exposure are a major health concern for combat veterans returning from the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We used an optimized diffusion tensor imaging tractography algorithm to assess white matter (WM) fractional anisotropy (FA) in blast-exposed Iraq and Afghanistan veterans (n = 40) scanned on average 3.7 years after deployment/trauma exposure. Vetera...

This paper presents a review of empirical literature that deals with etiological factors in combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Variables implicated in PTSD from three time frames, premilitary, military, and postmilitary, are identified, and findings from relevant research are discussed. There is consistency across studies in showing significant correlations between PTSD and c...

BACKGROUND Research has demonstrated that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is one of the most widely recognized mental disorders, but recognition is affected by trauma type. AIMS The current study investigated the effect of direct versus indirect exposure to traumatic event and trauma types on Mental Health Literacy (MHL) of PTSD. METHODS Two hundred and thirty-three participants were ...

OBJECTIVE Third Location Decompression (TLD) is an activity undertaken by UK Armed Forces (UK AF) personnel at the end of an operational deployment which aims to smooth the transition between operations and returning home. We assessed whether TLD impacted upon both mental health and postdeployment readjustment. METHOD Data collected during a large cohort study was examined to identify personn...

OBJECTIVES The objective was to study the prevalence of fatigue symptoms among Special Forces and regular forces military personnel deployed in combat areas and to explore factors associated with fatigue symptoms. METHODS This is a cross sectional study of representative samples of Sri Lanka Navy Special Forces and regular forces deployed in combat areas continuously for at least one year. Fa...