"If you aim for simplicity, you must first master complexity" -- said the 17th century Chinese painter, Wang Kai. Almost 400 posts in on this blog, I still enjoy the moments when something profoundly complex like combat trauma is nevertheless reduced to something quite simple to understand. Here's one such observation: the more combat one is exposed to, the greater the chances of experiencing PTSD. Makes sense, doesn't it? Although we've talked about that concept recently on this blog -- with a great graphic that shows the linear relationship quite profoundly, that entry linked here -- here's another, earlier study that says the same thing, in an article linked here.
Researchers who went back and analyzed two conflicting, large-scale studies of PTSD -- one done by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the other the National Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Study -- found, among other things, that although "most veterans who experienced very highly traumatic events did not develop PTSD," still, the more war trauma a veteran experienced, the higher a veteran's odds of developing PTSD. Researchers called this the "dose-response relationship," and said their work, going back over the two major studies and attempting to reconcile their findings, found that it was "even stronger than previously reported."
SOURCES: Dohrenwend, B.P. Science, Aug. 18, 2006; Vol. 313: pp. 979-982. McNally, R.J. Science, Aug. 18, 2006; Vol. 313: pp. 923-924.
