Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Civil Violence in Northern Ireland

Trauma and Dissociation in Northern Ireland

“…In addition, the majority continued to experience the same degree of posttraumatic and general psychiatric symptoms 12 months later. The PTSD rate in this sample was considerably higher than that reported in previous work by this research group (see Loughrey, Curran, & Bell, 1993, below, for summary results of their previous research), a result accounted for by the timing and vicious nature of this attack, according to the authors.…”

“…Fay et al (1999) point out that "[l]ocal communities are divided on the issue of policing of their communities, with some advocating paramilitary policing in the absence of an acceptable state police force, and others, horrified at the brutality of the punishments meted out, and the summary nature of the attribution of guilt" (p. 194). To the authors' knowledge there have been no studies specifically and systemically assessing the psychological effects of punishment attacks (Loughrey et al, 1993 did include victims of punishment attacks in their study but they were incorporated into a larger traumatized sample and not studied selectively or in detail). However, in the clinic, the psychological impact of these attacks is evident.…”

“…Studies examining PTSD in Northern Ireland have routinely found a relationship between trauma exposure and PTSD prevalence. For example, based on medical-legal referrals, Loughrey et al (1993) assessed for PTSD in "survivors of assassination attempts, paramilitary punishment shootings and beatings, violent assaults, intimidation and exposure to bombings and shootings." They found that 116 (23.2%) of the 499 cases met diagnostic criteria for PTSD and recurrent intrusive recollections and markedly diminished interest were considerably higher in those with PTSD.…”

Rates of Childhood Trauma in a Sample of Patients with Schizophrenia as Compared with a Sample of Patients with Non-Psychotic Psychiatric Diagnoses

“…First, the trauma measure used does not attempt to elicit whether there is a history of neglect or emotional abuse. Second, the sample was taken from within Northern Ireland, which means that individuals may have been exposed to "Troubles"-related trauma which was not specifically examined for in this study (Loughrey, Curran & Bell, 1993). Clearly, other populations will not have been so exposed.…”

Comorbidity of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Israeli Veterans

“…By and large these results are consistent with studies of other populations conducted in other parts of the world and following other traumatic events. Depression was the most frequent concurrent disorder in studies of PTSD in survivors of the Lockerbie plane crash, 12 the Buffalo Creek dam collapse, 13 civil violence in Northern Ireland, 14 and civilian war in Cambodia. 1516 Similarly, Helzer et al, 17 Breslau et al, 18 and Kessler et al 19 all found in community studies in the United States that PTSD was accompanied by relatively high rates of depression.…”