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Posttraumatic stress disorder in a general psychiatric inpatient population
Author(s) -
McFarlane Alexander C.,
Bookless Clara,
Air Tracy
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1023/a:1013077702520
Subject(s) - comorbidity , psychiatry , posttraumatic stress , anxiety disorder , psychiatric comorbidity , population , incidence (geometry) , psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , anxiety , physics , environmental health , optics
Abstract This study examined the incidence of traumatic experiences and prevalence of lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a sample of 141 general hospital psychiatric inpatients. Sixty‐one percent of the patients reported at least one traumatic event during their lifetime and 28% met the formal DSM‐III‐R criteria for a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD. A high degree of comorbidity between PTSD and other psychiatric disorders was found, but PTSD was the incident disorder in at least 50% of cases. The experience of trauma and its associated complex patterns of symptomatology suggest that PTSD complicates the process of recovery from another disorder.