Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Combat Stress, PTSD, Psychological Wounds Persisit Over Time

Full article at: Combat stress can cause persistent attention problems
September 7, 2009 by Shari Roan

Researchers at Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System and Boston University studied 268 men and women who served in Iraq between 2003 and 2006. "They found that soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder had poorer attention at the one-year mark, but this link was not found in soldiers who recently returned from deployment.

The study provides more evidence that the psychological wounds of war may persist and appear in various manifestations over time.

"Our finding indicating that the relationship between PTSD and attentional impairment is minimal early on but strengthens over time is consistent with previous research," the authors wrote. The study also demonstrates "that psychiatric symptoms often reflect more extensive biological changes, including those affecting brain function."

The study is published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.