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The use of an immunological metaphor allows the incorporation of established theoretical ideas about trauma and stress in an integrative way which enables delineation and illustration of several varieties of combat stress reaction, including subtle forms of that condition which do not often appear in post-traumatic stress disorder literature.

Post-traumatic stress disorder may follow combat stress or civilian psychological traumata. In 25 retrospectively studied patients, symptoms were severe in terms of number of DSM-III items fulfilled, chronicity, and severity of psychosocial disability. Antidepressants had good or moderate results in 67% of cases treated, but major tranquilisers were much less effective; response to drug treatment was not clearly related to somatisation symptoms, significant depression, or panic attacks. Pharmacotherapy appeared to have had a positive impact on psychotherapy in 70% of cases.