Hopelessness and suicidal ideation in iraq and afghanistan war veterans reporting subthreshold and threshold posttraumatic stress disorder.
Summary of "Hopelessness and suicidal ideation in iraq and afghanistan war veterans reporting subthreshold and threshold posttraumatic stress disorder."
We examined hopelessness and suicidal ideation in association with subthreshold and threshold posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a sample of Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans (U.S., N = 275) assessed within a specialty VA postdeployment health clinic. Veterans completed paper-and-pencil questionnaires at intake. The military version of the PTSD Checklist was used to determine PTSD levels (No PTSD; subthreshold PTSD; PTSD), and endorsement of hopelessness or suicidal ideation were used as markers of elevated suicide risk. Veterans were also asked if they received mental health treatment in the prior 6 months. Veterans reporting subthreshold PTSD were 3 times more likely to endorse these markers of elevated suicide risk relative to the Veterans without PTSD. We found no significant differences in likelihood of endorsing hopelessness or suicidal ideation comparing subthreshold and threshold PTSD groups, although the subthreshold PTSD group was less likely to report prior mental health treatment. Clinicians should be attentive to suicide risk in returned Veterans reporting both subthreshold and threshold PTSD.
Affiliation
*VA Puget Sound Health Care System, VISN-20 Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Seattle, WA; and †Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: The Journal of nervous and mental disease
ISSN: 1539-736X
Pages: 272-5
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21451353
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0b013e3182124604
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Suicidal Ideation
A risk factor for suicide attempts and completions, it is the most common of all suicidal behavior, but only a minority of ideators engage in overt self-harm.
Iraq War, 2003 -
An armed intervention involving multi-national forces in the country of IRAQ.
Veterans Health
The concept covering the physical and mental conditions of VETERANS.
Persian Gulf Syndrome
Unexplained symptoms reported by veterans of the Persian Gulf War with Iraq in 1991. The symptoms reported include fatigue, skin rash, muscle and joint pain, headaches, loss of memory, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms, and extreme sensitivity to commonly occurring chemicals. (Nature 1994 May 5;369(6475):8)
Hospitals, Veterans
Hospitals providing medical care to veterans of wars.
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