Psychiatric symptoms of Turkish combat-injured non-professional veterans

Abstract

BackgroundIt is well-known that exposure to combat puts individuals at risk for developing adverse psychological problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and health-related behaviour problems and that the presence of combat-related injury increases the risk for psychopathology. Little is known, however, about the consequences of combat among conscripted soldiers fighting against terrorism in their homeland.ObjectiveThe main aim of the current study was to examine the prevalence of probable PTSD, severity of PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, and PTSD-related functional impairment among Turkish combat-injured, non-professional veterans. In addition, investigated were also the possible differences among the symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety of the veterans by the frequency of current cigarette and alcohol use.MethodsA total of 366 male veterans were assessed by using a demographic information form, which obtained information about injury status and health behaviours, the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Symptom frequency and multivariate analysis of variances (MANOVA) were used to analyse the data.ResultsThe prevalence of probable PTSD was 46.7% (171) among Turkish veterans while 16.4% experienced severe depression and 18% experienced severe anxiety. “Upset at reminders (65.8%)” was the most common PTSD symptom. “Responsibilities related to home (48.4%)” was the most frequently reported PTSD-related functional impairment. Results indicated that veterans who smoke more than half a pack per day scored significantly higher in severity of PTSD symptoms, depression, and anxiety. Contrary to expectations, there was no significant difference in symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety related to the frequency of current alcohol use.ConclusionTurkish non-professional veterans with physical injuries have serious psychiatric problems an average of 13 years after a combat experience. Psychiatric and psychosocial services to Turkish non-professional veterans are a substantial and ongoing need.

Post-Traumatic Stress in Terror and War

“…Kendisi böyle bir olayla karşılaşanlar ya da bir yakın ya da arkadaşını yitirenler diğerlerine oranla daha fazla travma sonrası belirti göstermekteydiler. Türkiye'de benzeri koşullarda silahlı çatışma ortamında bulunan askerlerde olası TSSB sıklığı %46,7, ağır depresyon %16,4 ve ağır anksiyete %18 olarak belirlenmiştir (18) . Aynı çalışmada, yaşanılanları anımsama üzerine üzüntü hissetme en sık görülen (%65,8) TSSB belirtisi olup, ev ile ilgili sorumlulukları aksatma (%48,4) TSSB ile ilgili olarak en sık görülen işlev bozulması türü idi.…”

Severity of PTSD symptoms and its relationship with severity of alcohol-related problems in a sample of inpatients with alcohol use disorder

“…This situation might have resulted from the overlapping symptoms of PTSD with depression and anxiety or depressive and anxiety symptoms might emerge secondarily to trauma. Previous studies have shown high rates of major depression in patients with PTSD (27,41). Kural et al (27) demonstrated that among inpatients with AUD, in addition to major depression, suicide attempts also were higher in patients with PTSD compared to those without it.…”

Military Social Work: Evaluation of Depression and Satisfaction of Life Among Terror Veterans

“…Bu araştırmada terör gazilerinin %66.7'si terörle mücadelede yer almaktan dolayı ruh sağlığının olumsuz yönde etkilendiğini belirtmiştir. Bulgularımıza paralel olarak Güloğlu (2016) tarafından Türkiye'deki gazilerle yapılan bir araştırmada katılımcıların %46.7'sinde TSSB, %16.4'de depresyon ve %18'inde endişe bozukluğu olduğu bulunmuştur. Gazilerle yapılan bir araştırmada katılımcıların %20'sinin (Elbogen vd., 2013, s. 136), bir başka araştırmada %21,8'inin TSSB tanısı aldığı bulunmuştur (Seal vd., 2009(Seal vd., , s. 1651.…”

“…Bu doğrultuda Türkiye'deki gazilerle yapılan başlıca çalışmalara değinmek yararlı olacaktır. Problem merkezli başa çıkma stratejileri, travma sonrası büyüme (Tuncay & Musabak, 2015), TSSB (Güloğlu & Karaırmak, 2013), psikiyatrik semptomlar (Güloğlu, 2016), umutsuzluk, yaşam doyumu (Karataş, Aslan, & Başcıllar, 2019) sosyal destek ve yaşam kalitesi (Başcıllar, 2017;Yazicioğlu vd., 2006) Köker (1991) tarafından gerçekleştirilmiş ve yapılan test tekrar test güvenirlik katsayısı α= .85 olarak bulunmuştur. Yetim (1993) ise ölçeğin Cronbach alfa iç tutarlılık sayısını α = .86 bulmuştur.…”