Acute Dissociative Reactions in Veterans with PTSD

Abstract

This study ex am ined the prev a lence of acute dissociative re ac tions to a re cent stress ful event among 102 male Viet nam vet er ans seek ing help for posttraumatic stress dis or der (PTSD) at a Vet erans Affairs treat ment cen ter. Prior to treat ment, pa tients com pleted a bat tery of ques tion naires, in clud ing the Stan ford Acute Stress Re ac tion Ques tion-naire to assess acute dissociative experiences in reaction to a recent stress ful event. Most (80%) com bat vet er ans re ported ex pe ri enc ing five acute dissociative symptoms in the previous month in reaction to this event. These symp toms were pos i tively as so ci ated with be ing Af ri can American or Hispanic/Latino, hav ing been phys i cally abused in childhood, choosing acom bat-related intrusion ex peri ence as themost stressful re cent event, com bat-re lated trau matic stress symp toms, and hav ing service connected disability. These results have both theoretical and clinicalimplications.

Key Words:

• Dis so ci ation
• vet eran
• posttraumatic stress
• acute stress
• ethnic ity
• sec ond ary gain