A Brief Exposure-Based Intervention for Service Members With PTSD

Psychotherapy for Military-Related PTSD

“…Potential reasons why treatment outcomes may be worse among military and veteran populations include the extended, repeated, and intense nature of deployment trauma 65 and the fact that service members are exposed not only to life threats but to traumatic losses and morally compromising experiences that may require different treatment approaches. [66][67][68] A recent meta-analysis comparing traumafocused and non-trauma-focused therapies (both civilian and military trauma) found that, in populations with more complex trauma, such as veterans and refugees, there was little difference in efficacy; moderate differences favoring trauma-focused therapies were only present for less complex traumas. 69 Additional likely reasons for worse outcomes in veterans include comorbidities (eg, 87% of veterans with PTSD presenting to VA primary care clinics have at least 1 psychiatric comorbidity, with the mode being 3-4 disorders 70 ) and disability compensation incentives.…”

Veterans’ Perspectives on the Psychosocial Impact of Killing in War

“…Steenkamp et al (2011) have observed that, for many veterans, the most "haunting and impactful" war events are "those involving perceived moral transgressions" (p. 99). Studies of U.S. military veterans show that shame, guilt, and the belief that one has participated in immoral acts are significantly associated with both suicidal ideation (Bryan, Ray-Sannerud, Morrow, & Etienne, 2013;Fontana et al, 1992;Hendin & Haas, 1991) and PTSD (Fontana et al, 1992;Henning & Frueh, 1997;Rice & Sher, 2013;Steenkamp et al, 2011;Yehuda, Southwick, & Giller, 1992). Killing, especially but not exclusively the killing of civilians, is thus hypothesized to be an agent of moral injury Maguen & Burkman, 2013) that contributes to the feelings of guilt and shame underlying some posttraumatic stress, depression, and suicidality (Hendin & Haas, 1991;Shay, 2010).…”

Diagnosing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Using a Physiological Computing Method and Apparatus

“…However, according to other sources (c.f. [24,38]) these estimates may be quite low due to under reporting and social undesirability effects of self-report methods [10]. Moreover, these percentages are estimated to be relatively small compared to many other countries such as in South East and East Asia, South America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East where there are significant kinetic conflicts [3].…”