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Suicidal Behavior in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Focus on Combat Exposure

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Book cover Sleep and Combat-Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

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Abstract

Data in veterans and active personnel has revealed a robust association between combat trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal behavior, a concerning relationship considering the highly traumatic nature of combat action. Additionally, mood, anxiety, substance abuse, and personality disorders are frequently comorbid with the diagnosis of PTSD and can synergistically or additively elevate the risk of suicide in the military as well as civilian patients already struggling with this disorder. The relationship between PTSD and suicidal behavior is even further complicated by the fact that some studies implicate traumatic experience and not symptoms of PTSD in the elevated risk of suicidal behavior observed in this patient population. More longitudinal studies are needed in order to evaluate the temporal relationship between the traumatic events and the clinical manifestations of PTSD, in order to disentangle this convoluted relationship. Once the mechanisms of trauma-driven suicidal behavior are better understood, improved therapeutic modalities and reduction of suicidal behavior in veterans as well as civilians struggling with PTSD and co-occurring psychiatric disorders should follow.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisico, CA, USA

    Yuriy Dobry

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and James J. Peters Veterans’ Administration Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Leo Sher

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  1. Yuriy Dobry
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  2. Leo Sher
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Correspondence to Leo Sher .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Eric Vermetten

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Anne Germain

  3. University of California, San Francisco, California, USA

    Thomas C. Neylan

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Dobry, Y., Sher, L. (2018). Suicidal Behavior in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Focus on Combat Exposure. In: Vermetten, E., Germain, A., Neylan, T. (eds) Sleep and Combat-Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7148-0_8

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