Memories of Vietnam: post-traumatic stress disorders in Australian veterans

Abstract

We compared a random sample of Australian Vietnam veteran inpatients suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (N = 13) with veteran inpatients with other neurotic diagnoses. Those with PTSD had experienced substantially higher levels of combat stress, were more likely to have manifested conduct disorder in childhood, and had poorer work adjustment. Only three had been diagnosed as having traumatic or war neuroses by their original treating psychiatrist in the Veterans Affairs Department. Post traumatic stress disorder (or war neurosis) has possibly been under-diagnosed by treating psychiatrists in the Veterans Affairs Department, especially in the pre-DSM-III era.