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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Civil Violence in Northern Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

G. C. Loughrey*
Affiliation:
Downshire Hospital
P. Bell
Affiliation:
Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children
M. Kee
Affiliation:
977 Summitt Av., St Paul, Minnesota
R. J. Roddy
Affiliation:
977 Summitt Av., St Paul, Minnesota
P. S. Curran
Affiliation:
Mater Infirmorum Hospital, Belfast
*
Downshire Hospital, Andglass Road, Downpatrick Co. Down BT30 6RA, Northern Ireland

Abstract

The case records of 499 victims of civil and terrorist violence were examined, and the presence or absence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated features recorded. The results support the face, and predictive, validities of PTSD. ‘Acting as if the event were reoccurring’ and 'survivor guilt’ seemed not to be characteristic symptoms, and the homogeneity of the emotional state in PTSD was questionable. Only marital disharmony and suicidal behaviour were associated complications. PTSD seemed to be found in a wide range of stressors, but the danger in over-reliance on results from combat veterans is emphasised.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1988 

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