Emotional Impact
PTSD has a significant emotional impact on returned soldiers; this is amplified with the occurrence of comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD). Ikin, Creamer, Sim, and McKenzie (2010) investigated the prevalence of comorbid PTSD and MDD amongst Australian veterans of the Korean War; 52 percent of PTSD cases were shown to have co-occurring depression. Key features of MDD include, disturbances in appetite, sleep, energy and concentration and overwhelming feelings of worthlessness, guilt and suicidal ideation, several of these overlap with PTSD symptoms (Burton, Westen, & Kowalski, 2012b). Comorbid PTSD and MDD were shown to be associated with a greater reduction in quality of life and greater symptom severity; this increase in intensity is not unexpected considering overlap exists (Ikin et al., 2010). PTSD-MDD comorbidity was also found to be positively associated with a number of military specific factors including decreasing rank, increasing combat severity and deployment during active warfare (Ikin et al., 2010).
Similarly, Kulkarni et al. (2012) identified anger and dissociation as risk factors for the development and maintenance of PTSD in returned American soldiers. Anger and dissociation are problematic coping strategies …show more content…
PTSD has been shown to exacerbate depression, anger and dissociation and they in turn intensify PTSD. Similarly, when a person experiences one negative emotion intensely, they tend to experience other negative emotions intensely (Burton, Westen, & Kowalski, 2012b). It is possible that the intense guilt associated with PTSD and post-service suicidality works as a sort of bi-directional contagion with depression, anger and other negative emotions. The isolation of specific emotional areas affected by PTSD may serve not only to increase understanding of PTSD but also better equip clinicians in a treatment
PTSD has a significant emotional impact on returned soldiers; this is amplified with the occurrence of comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD). Ikin, Creamer, Sim, and McKenzie (2010) investigated the prevalence of comorbid PTSD and MDD amongst Australian veterans of the Korean War; 52 percent of PTSD cases were shown to have co-occurring depression. Key features of MDD include, disturbances in appetite, sleep, energy and concentration and overwhelming feelings of worthlessness, guilt and suicidal ideation, several of these overlap with PTSD symptoms (Burton, Westen, & Kowalski, 2012b). Comorbid PTSD and MDD were shown to be associated with a greater reduction in quality of life and greater symptom severity; this increase in intensity is not unexpected considering overlap exists (Ikin et al., 2010). PTSD-MDD comorbidity was also found to be positively associated with a number of military specific factors including decreasing rank, increasing combat severity and deployment during active warfare (Ikin et al., 2010).
Similarly, Kulkarni et al. (2012) identified anger and dissociation as risk factors for the development and maintenance of PTSD in returned American soldiers. Anger and dissociation are problematic coping strategies …show more content…
PTSD has been shown to exacerbate depression, anger and dissociation and they in turn intensify PTSD. Similarly, when a person experiences one negative emotion intensely, they tend to experience other negative emotions intensely (Burton, Westen, & Kowalski, 2012b). It is possible that the intense guilt associated with PTSD and post-service suicidality works as a sort of bi-directional contagion with depression, anger and other negative emotions. The isolation of specific emotional areas affected by PTSD may serve not only to increase understanding of PTSD but also better equip clinicians in a treatment