Etiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Comorbidity During 1992-1998

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) represents a delayed response to a stress event, particularly of menacing and catastrophic nature, which most likely causes pervasive distress to almost everyone. This disorder is frequently associated with another psychiatric disorder. As can be seen from the name, PTSD does not have to be caused by the events of war, but by other traumatic events, as well. The aim of this research is to show the main factors that cause PTSD and the ones that cause PTSD comorbidity. This research was conducted in the period from April 1998 till October 1999. The participants were divided in two groups of 30: the first group consisted of 30 participants with symptoms of PTSD only and the second group included 30 participants with symptoms of PTSD and another psychiatric disorder. Both groups were quite similar with regard their gender and age. Research tools included: Standard Psychiatric Interview, Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAD), and Drug and Alcohol Abuse Checklist (1, 2, 3). The evaluation showed that PTSD was most common among the male, aged 25-45 in both of the groups. Participants from both groups were exposed to traumatic events at least once, but the most frequent was the case of exposure to etiologic factors. This is the case with the participants of the second group because they had greater exposure to multiple traumatic events. In that group, the most common disorders associated with PTSD were as following: personality disorders (46.6%); depression (29.9%); drug abuse (13%); alcohol abuse (6.7%) and dissociative disorder (3.3%).