Is post-traumatic stress disorder over-diagnosed ?

[dan7108]

For such a controversial topic I can't believe that there has hardly been a peep of opposition to the question posed here. It's all well and good to study rates of diagnosis for vets from Afghan/Iraq, but these are very recent conflicts.

Some food for thought:
http://www.brianwillson.com/awolvetmemo.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2873622.ece

Those seemingly minor symptoms of PTSD may flare up years down the road. It is generally accepted that at least twice as many Vietnam vets have taken their own lives since the end of the conflict (thats roughly 100,000); they're still killing themselves today.

If "over-diagnosing" this disorder now means that 20 years down the road my buddy and/or colleague won't hang himself, I think I can settle for that.

 

[SeanNewman]

Interesting perspective, Dan.  Specifically about suicides costing twice as many lives as the war itself.

As much as love-him-or-hate-him LCol (Ret) Dave Grossman is a bit kookey in person, this is one of the areas he does a really good job covering.

When he talks about PTSD, and survivor guilt in particular, the way he puts it is that he's taking personal responsibility to battle harden your mind to know what to expect, because if you end up taking your own life due to what you experienced, you're essentially giving them (the bad guys) one more kill, and he says he'll be damned if he's going to let that happen.

 

[mariomike]

For what it's worth:
"Myth: The media have reported that suicides among Vietnam veterans range from 50,000 to 100,000 - 6 to 11 times the non-Vietnam veteran population.

Mortality studies show that 9,000 is a better estimate. "The CDC Vietnam Experience Study Mortality Assessment showed that during the first 5 years after discharge, deaths from suicide were 1.7 times more likely among Vietnam veterans than non-Vietnam veterans. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. In fact, after the 5-year post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veterans' group."
Testimony by Dr. Houk, Oversight on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 14 July 1988 page 17, Hearing before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs United States Senate one hundredth Congress second session. Also "Estimating the Number of Suicides Among Vietnam Veterans" (Am J Psychiatry 147, 6 June 1990 pages 772-776)
http://www.vhfcn.org/stats.htm#HOUK
http://www.vietnam-war.info/myths/

"VA report: Male U.S. veteran suicides at highest in 2006: WASHINGTON — Suicide rates for young male Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans hit a record high in 2006, according to statistics to be released Tuesday by the Department of Veterans Affairs.":
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-09-08-Vet-suicides_N.htm

 

[ArmyGuy99]

mariomike,

I did not access the CISM/CISD that was offered through a 3rd party company with a contract from another town  .  I felt and feel that I had/have the tools already in my tool box as well as an excellent family support system that I can and have accessed.  Thankfully I was raised by good parents, who thankfully being an EMS Dispatcher and a Paramedic, saw the need to make sure their children could deal with life.

Really made dinner time meal stories a little, shall we say, different from most others.  We were desensitized early.  Which has come in handy, being able to stay cool when needed and then dealing with the effects of the situation later on.

 

[the 48th regulator]

mariomike,

I did not access the CISM/CISD that was offered through a 3rd party company with a contract from another town  .  I felt and feel that I had/have the tools already in my tool box as well as an excellent family support system that I can and have accessed.  Thankfully I was raised by good parents, who thankfully being an EMS Dispatcher and a Paramedic, saw the need to make sure their children could deal with life.

Really made dinner time meal stories a little, shall we say, different from most others.  We were desensitized early.  Which has come in handy, being able to stay cool when needed and then dealing with the effects of the situation later on.

The CF moved away from CISD several years ago as it was found to cause harm in some cases.  The Join Speaker's Bureau, a program derived from OSISS, has been managing education on OSI's in the CF.

The Joint Speakers Bureau is a collaboration between CF Mental Health services and DCSM that has recently developed deployment-related training in addition to its leadership training regarding Mental Health and Operational Stress Injuries.  This is very recent material, as it was only presented to Land Forces Doctrine and Training System in October 2009 for the pre-deployment phase, and work is ongoing for TLD and post-deployment phases.  This initiative was in response to an identified need to develop effective, consistent and standardized material for deployment/resilience related training being offered in the CF.  The Joint Speakers Bureau also developed and delivers training on an ongoing basis regarding mental health and OSIs from a leadership perspective, as well as various professional development sessions.


dileas

tess

 

[dan7108]

Thanks for the info mike, a prof told me the vietnam stats originally. I didn't know it was such a contested issue