engleski

Diversity of Pain Syndromes in War Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Today, clinicians are more aware of the link between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and physical pain syndromes, which can both be found in traumatized military troops after traumatic events are incurred during military operations. The current formulation of PTSD is based on the notion that dissociated memories of trauma can be expressed as intrusive thoughts, affective states, sensory perceptions and somatoform dissociations, sometimes represented as pain syndromes. It is well known that patients suffering from PTSD (i.e., war veterans) experience a triad of symptoms: intrusive symptoms ; emotional numbness with avoidant strategies ; and hyperarousal. However, these patients also have physical symptoms – the most common are chronic fatigue and pain syndromes (i.e., chronic headaches, noncardiac chest pain, and unexplained chronic pain in the pelvic region). In this study, we will present three clinical cases of participants in military and war operations and then analyze the various etiological sources of pain syndromes in PTSD, presenting the possibility that painful symptoms or syndromes can be an etiological intrusion or somatoform dissociation during an anniversary reaction. Therefore, these pain syndromes represent a part of the spectrum of posttraumatic reactions that affect military members long after returning from the “battlefield.”

PTSD; dissociation; combat trauma

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